I have tried my best to be positive, and to see the positive in the world. But all I am bombarded by are images and news of how the world is falling apart and is dangerous. It makes me feel like I shouldn't even bother trying to live. I get very scared and cry a lot because of it. I've never lived in the Morridor, but in a working class neighborhood in a relatively decent sized city. So, I have been exposed to a lot of things in my life. Sometimes I believe things might actually be getting better, but then I see something on the news or hear people talking about something or read something, and I feel very horrible all over again.

Terrible things happen in every era of history. Imagine being in Rome when it burned down and was sacked. I'll bet it was worse than Detroit. People must have lost their minds.

World War Two looked like the end of the world to the generation before mine. I grew up just knowing I'd get nuked.

Now the map is changing as Russia takes the Ukraine. It's awful over there.

You will live through troubled times if you are human. Even a peaceful life ends with death. Why not make honey until your wings fall off?

Peace

If you have really bad anxiety, take a break from reading the news. If its something really big and/or awful, you'll hear people talking about it. Otherwise, try to find articles or books, movies, etc with more uplifting things to it. I'm not saying climb into a hermit shell, but to just take a break from news feeds. And subscribe to National Geographic, a car magazine, new hobby or interest, etc. Its a beautiful world and there are some incredible things to see/experience.

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/the_world_is_actually_safer_than_ever/

Do a google search on " world more peaceful than ever" and you will get a whole stream of documentation. Unless you live in a hot spot, there is simply no logic to your extreme anxiety. That doesn't make your fear any less real, but a regular dose of facts has to help.

You really need to avoid all forms of news media until you get this back in balance.

Stop watching the news. They make money by making you feel this way. Also read "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie.

I haven't watched the news in years! The reason being, it was putting me into a state of anxiety that was off the charts.

It didn't matter what I watched, or knew, it didn't change the world. The only thing I could change was me.

The news is designed to cause anxiety. Most of it isn't true to the events that are happening. You can watch it 24/7 and it won't change anything. Especially if your so immersed in anxiety that you can't function.

I stopped watching the TV. I only watch it about 3 hours a week. Then I only watch if my husband is watching it. He watches automotive shows. Not very anxiety inducing.

I also don't go online to read the news. Guess what? NOBODY cares if I do or don't watch it. The world keeps turning in spite of me not knowing what was on the news yesterday.

Stop watching. It's toxic to you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2014 11:19PM by madalice.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Worrying-Start-Living/product-reviews/0671733354/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1

Read the reviews of the book. It will help.

Yoga

We have not always existed in the past and there will be a time where we will not exist, but we exist here and now. To exist is a privilege.

This world of ours has always been a mess and it will always be so, but it has been improving steadily in the last few centuries and there's no reason to doubt it will follow that pattern in the future.

I enjoy this confortable and relatively peaceful world my ancestors built and I consider it a honor to help it to improve it for my descendants. I hope they will live in a world much better than I do.

I don't know if individuals continue to exist in some form after death, but even if they don't, I still think this existance is beautiful and full of purpose. I'm free to choose the what purpose mine will have.

when I was growing up, the second coming was just around the corner. We got our food storage, because surely sometime soon there would be no food available. And then there was the year 2000 bug, when technology would cease to function. That's when I finally got my food storage (which I purchased from the church and canned myself). That disaster was a big no-show. We were taught that the world was a dangerous and evil place, and that's a really horrible thing to teach little kids.

I'd say news sources and churches have the most to gain by predicting or reporting on bad news. New agencies sell papers and gain viewers. Religious followers cling to their churches when they feel powerless and afraid. I've also noticed that religious followers tend to get caught up with conspiracy theories, and assume that everybody is working against the common good.

I think it pays to unplug from the news if it's bothering you. You can't change most of that stuff, anyway, and it doesn't affect you directly, except to make you upset. And if you are around negative people, limit your exposure to them.

I know that it's probably more complicated than that, and perhaps with some cognitive behavioral therapy (maybe even try it on your own), you could rewire your reactions. But if you can't please get help. Once, during a particularly difficult time, I got the following book and found it helpful:
http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Fourth/dp/1572244135/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397795319&sr=1-2&keywords=the+anxiety+and+phobia+workbook

One of the surprising things was that it talked about diet, and I realized that my caffeine intake was a part of the problem. For you, it might be something else that you never thought of. Reducing caffeine didn't make the challenging situations I was dealing with go away, but it took the edge off and made it easier to cope with them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2014 12:35AM by imaworkinonit.

This sounds like a phobia, which by definition isn't rational. If the suggestions you've gotten don't solve the problem, find a therapist who specializes in treating phobias.

Life is always bad but you need to focus on the good. There is actually S000 much good in this world more than the bad but we take it for granted.

P.S. don't read American media it is very negative. Honest read SANA (Syrian Arab news agency) then go look at CNN notice which one is more negative



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2014 03:04AM by roya1b100d.

I can definitely see where the OP is coming from. I am an obsessive person and one of my obsessions used to be the news. Now I've replaced that with RfM :)

Leaving the Morg has brightened my outlook on the world in some ways. Believing in the second coming meant no matter what people did, the world would eventually be destroyed, and sometime soon. There was no point in striving to advance humanity and the sustainability of life, only to convert as many as possible before god burned them to a crisp.
Now I see merit in trying to make the world a better place and working on the issues that would threaten life in the long run. And it's encouraging to see that life for people has improved over the long run, over the complete history of our species. Who knows what we will evolve into. But any contribution I can make, may actually have an impact, because this place isn't going to burn up in my lifetime.
This is reading into things somewhat, but if there is a concern that no god is watching over this place to protect us collectively and individually, it seems we only have to consider how god has treated the Earth according to the scriptures. Then it's easy to see we are better of without a god! Do I need someone in my life who will burn me to death if I don't give money to a corporation instead of feeding, clothing and educating my family?

I heard an interesting podcast about this topic. It's "The News" from PRI RadioWest, host Doug Fabrizio. Original air date was 2/24/2014. The guest is Alain de Betton who has written a new book about "The News."

He very much describes and validates the OP's sentiments. He says it's not THE news (kind of like we all know TSCC isn't really THE church) and that it should be called "some news" instead. The attention-getting music when a news broadcast starts, the serious news casters, and calling it THE News really distorts its importance in our daily lives and makes us all anxious. There are lots of other good points. OP, I recommend you listen to it! It was very insightful for just the problem you described.

http://radiowest.kuer.org/podcasts/220/rss.xml

There is always another apocalypse prediction waiting to happen. Someone is always predicting doom and gloom and usually has the answer for how YOU can survive if you just follow them and give them money. Once you realize that most of it is just a con it is much easier to ignore the noise.

Here is a list of past failed apocalypse predictions for your amusement.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events


The other thing you need to remember is that most people tend to assign higher probabilities to traumatic events than they should. People are afraid to fly but fail to realize that the most dangerous part of their trip is the drive to the airport.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200712/10-ways-we-get-the-odds-wrong


People fear terrorism but fail to understand that you are more likely to be injured or killed by your bathtub than a terrorist.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/16/eight-facts-about-terrorism-in-the-united-states/


There will probably always be conflict and strife in the world but as long as it's not happening in your vicinity you are probably not going to be seriously affected by it.