Hope in a Turbulent World – NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Focus on Anxiety, Stress
Times are Challenging. We Can Help.
The elections. The wars. The world. It is a stressful time for many of us.
Daniel Melchor, LCSW, integrated care supervisor at Wheeler's Family Health & Wellness Center in Waterbury, recently talked with NBC Connecticut and Telemundo about the stress and anxiety many of us feel, as well as how to better understand and cope with it.
Some useful tips that can help:
- IT’S OK TO FEEL ANXIETY RIGHT NOW AT THE WORLD AROUND US. IT’S PART OF BEING HUMAN.
- We should normalize anxiety. All of us have seen anxiety. It’s normal and we have different ways of experiencing it. It can be uneasy feelings and emotions, but can also be reacting to stress in ways that affect sleeping and eating.
- Everyone is susceptible to it, and it’s normal. It’s part of being human in stressful times, and these are stressful times.
- EVERYONE REACTS TO ANXIETY IN THEIR OWN WAY, AND THAT’S NORMAL.
- Everybody reacts in a different way when they experience anxiety. How you react has to do with your world view...how you perceive the world. Some define that through their faith. Some through their work. Some through their belief system.
- Some people just worry because they feel they have no control. They may hoard things, overprepare for worst case scenarios, sweat, drink more, or use drugs.
- Some people may actually get overinformed on issues to have a sense of security, but that may build into anxiety by itself.
- FIND AND PRACTICE WAYS TO ADDRESS THE ANXIETY IN A POSITIVE WAY.
- Find ways to address the anxiety so it benefits you and others around you. Not all strategies work for everyone, so experimentation is important.
- The strategies can be put into three categories: behavioral, thinking, and physical.
- Behavioral strategies could be becoming an activist about the causes you care about. Or finding unrelated activities that bring you calm. It could mean even setting a timer on your phone to prevent doomscrolling or an overfocus on the news or social media.
- Thinking strategies could be meditation, journaling, or positive self-talk.
- Physical strategies could be yoga, getting outdoors, or exercise.
Know what your values are and what you stand for. If you can’t convince other people, that’s fine…just maintain your own beliefs.
Learn what is in your control. This is key. Understand your boundaries of what you can do. You can’t change the political climate, but you can vote. You may not solve the problems about violence in school, but you can talk to your kids about being kind. You can’t solve road rage, but you can decide to be calm in situations.
You can control just you.
Engage with other people. Find other people outside of the issues that stress you. Find a common humanity. And reach out to professionals who can help you acquire more coping skills.
RELATED LINK
Interested in Talking More?
For new patients, we provide walk-in behavioral health evaluations, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM. First-time evaluations are conducted face-to-face or virtually at:
- One Hope Street, Bristol
- 43 Woodland Street, Hartford
- 40 Hart Street, New Britain
- 91 Northwest Drive, Plainville
- 855 Lakewood Road, Waterbury
For existing patients, call Wheeler’s Navigation Center at 888-793-3500 for more information about depression and anxiety treatment.
You can also learn more about depression and anxiety treatment at Wheeler at this link, including new approaches like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and SPRAVATO® (esketamine).
