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How do you cope with today's world?


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Hey everyone, I'm sure this has probably been talked about here a few times but this is something I've realised takes up an awful lot of my headspace and often puts me on a downer, vulnerable to OCD. It has even been the subject of many obsessive periods. 

In today's world there is so much that we are told we have to worry about. Besides the things like terrorism, Brexit, the Trump presidency and social media, the one that occupies my mind the most is the environment problem. All I ever seem to hear and see is plastic in the ocean, deforestation, the planets heating up, and how the biggest leaders in the world just seem to not care at all. These are obviously legitimate problems that we all need to consider, I think, but for me I think I probably dwell on it far too much, as people with OCD tend to do. There isn't much balance in my head, it's always doom and gloom... I think it's been a huge contributor to my depression. Soes anybody else find the same thing and ehst do you do to help yourself?

Edited by Ollie46
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There's a book I've read called "risk: the science and politics of fear" which touches on this subject. It is a few years old now but still very relevant. It talks about how the world has always been uncertain and unstable and catastrophe has always beckoned. It talks about how the current situation always seems the most uncertain things have ever been but it's an illusion (because we know how the past turned out so we remember it as being more certain than it was). It talks about how we are conditioned to catastrophise and that historically things have hardly ever turned out as badly as we collectively feared. But we tend to not remember it that way. 

I'd really recommend reading it. I read it probably about ten years ago now but it had a very lasting impact on how I process the news and current events and how they're portrayed. 

 

Edited by gingerbreadgirl
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Mate it’s a downer isn’t it but flip side is that there are a lot of positives out there across whole manner of industries. Intelligent people with absolute determination are making steps in lots of ways and with the awesome pressure younger generations are demanding perhaps it can be reversed.

Like gingerbread said this has always been the case and the answers probably are here for us but it’s changing which is needed. World would be ace if we manage to move to a cleaner way of living, working and playing. ?

Chin up what what !

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Not what I thought this was going to be about...

I was going to have a moan about how new tech was continually making things harder for the compulsive checker....

However it does raise a good point, I try to live by the rule “if you think it’s OCD it probably is” (I fail a lot).

But worrying about “things” is an important part of life that I feel OCD ( ironically) causes  us to miss out on.

last month my GP was talking about upping my medication as I was very anxious due to a work situation, we decided to leave it a month till things had calmed down as I  said that it was a situation that should be stressful it wasn’t my fault and I didn’t see why I should fix it by upping my meds. If I was still bad in a month then we would up them.

So what do the non OCD lot do about “ the big stuff”?

Not much! Loads of people don’t vote, activists are a small part of the population.

Banning something others do is popular, banning  something I  like is infringing my freedom.

Having a moan is  expected, “Banging  on about it” gets you your own table in the canteen!

There is nothing wrong with being concerned about the state of the world, or being some kind of activist.

BUT it shouldn’t prevent you living the life you want to lead.

So if you want to go on the march you probably have the placard made, if you worry it’s OCD it probably is .

Me? I’ve got a note from my mum, it says ;

” I’m sorry but Closed can’t come out today as he is busy looking after his mental health.

yours  sincerely ,

My Mum”

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On 04/10/2019 at 19:38, Ollie46 said:

In today's world there is so much that we are told we have to worry about. Besides the things like terrorism, Brexit, the Trump presidency and social media, the one that occupies my mind the most is the environment problem. All I ever seem to hear and see is plastic in the ocean, deforestation, the planets heating up, and how the biggest leaders in the world just seem to not care at all. These are obviously legitimate problems that we all need to consider, I think, but for me I think I probably dwell on it far too much, as people with OCD tend to do. There isn't much balance in my head, it's always doom and gloom... I think it's been a huge contributor to my depression. Soes anybody else find the same thing and ehst do you do to help yourself?

Yes the world can seem scary at times, and there are real problems the world faces.  But as others have pointed out, this has basically always been true.  My parents lived under the threat of  impending nuclear war with the USSR.  My grandparents lived through the threat of Hitler and the Nazis.  My great grandparents lived with the threats of pandemics like the Spanish Flu, WWI, etc.  The world we live in is imperfect, things can and do go wrong.

So how do I help myself?  Well, so far I haven't died of the Spanish flu, been wiped out by a nuclear bomb, or succumbed to whatever the latest threats are.  I am alive, and being alive means there are possibilities.  Sure some of those possibilities are bad, and one day I'll probably not be alive anymore (though until that happens its always theoretically possible I am/will be immortal).  There are people doing good in the world, people trying to solve problems.  On the whole the arc of history has trended towards making life better for a greater number of people.   Hell consider that for as awful as OCD is, we live at a time when there are treatments for it, when its something thats fairly broadly recognized.  100 years ago none of that would be true, our lives would probably have been much worse to be living in 1919 and suffering from this illness, or even worse 1000 years ago in 1019.  Hell I was born with asthma and strabismus (crossed eyes).  1000 years ago I probably wouldn't have made it out of infancy!  Maybe not even 100 years ago.  But I did and I have been able to live life and do things I enjoy, I have made happy memories and hope to continue making more.  I can't guarantee a perfect future, I can only do my best to live my life and maybe making it better for myself and others.  I can balance my time on earth between enjoying life myself and helping to try and make it a better place for others, sometimes perhaps often being able to do both at the same time.  Maybe something bad will happen to me, maybe I'll die in an accident tomorrow, or get a serious illness, or the world will go to war.  I can't prevent bad things from ever happening, no one can.  I can only do my best with what I've got and live my life as best I can.  As far as I know this is the only life I've got, so I just have to do the best with it that I can.  Part of that, for me, includes spending some energy (but not all) on helping solve some of those bigger problems (like recycling, buy less ****, using more sustainable things, voting against people like Trump, speaking out against injustice and mistreatment, etc.). but it also involves living my life and enjoying it with my friends and family and even alone sometimes.  Because if I don't live my life then what's the point?  I can only do the best I can with the circumstances around me, thats all any of us can do.  If we wait for things to be perfect around us, well, we'll probably all be waiting a long LONG time, and unfortunately most if not all of us won't live long enough to see a perfect world, if such a thing is even possible.

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On 04/10/2019 at 11:38, Ollie46 said:

In today's world there is so much that we are told we have to worry about. Besides the things like terrorism, Brexit, the Trump presidency and social media, the one that occupies my mind the most is the environment problem.

Having seen the recent news coverage of extinction rebellions actions in London, I have found myself worrying less about the environment! Not because I think their action is going to achieve anything, but because I get the impression they are being dishonest and hypocritical, & in some cases laughable.

I also disagree with them disrupting the lives of others who are not fellow activists, & I am sure it must have an adverse effect by putting people off recycling and doing their bit.  

 

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Hi   Ollie.  There are ups and downs. In the US people are dying earlier than 10 years ago. In the UK the figures are similar but less stark. The average life expectancy in Manchester at the beginning of the industrial revolution was 19. Poor environment with air pollution and dangerous work conditions and the spread of contagious diseases in the expanding city. This is well below estimates for life expectancy in England in the medieval period. But the consensus of scientific opinion is that there are profound environmental changes. I think political action. The people of Manchester improved their lot by extending the franchise, clean air movement, the abolition of child labour, the Factories Acts - health and safety at work, and so forth.

 

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On 07/10/2019 at 21:57, dksea said:

Yes the world can seem scary at times, and there are real problems the world faces.  But as others have pointed out, this has basically always been true.  My parents lived under the threat of  impending nuclear war with the USSR.  My grandparents lived through the threat of Hitler and the Nazis.  My great grandparents lived with the threats of pandemics like the Spanish Flu, WWI, etc.  The world we live in is imperfect, things can and do go wrong.

So how do I help myself?  Well, so far I haven't died of the Spanish flu, been wiped out by a nuclear bomb, or succumbed to whatever the latest threats are.  I am alive, and being alive means there are possibilities.  Sure some of those possibilities are bad, and one day I'll probably not be alive anymore (though until that happens its always theoretically possible I am/will be immortal).  There are people doing good in the world, people trying to solve problems.  On the whole the arc of history has trended towards making life better for a greater number of people.   Hell consider that for as awful as OCD is, we live at a time when there are treatments for it, when its something thats fairly broadly recognized.  100 years ago none of that would be true, our lives would probably have been much worse to be living in 1919 and suffering from this illness, or even worse 1000 years ago in 1019.  Hell I was born with asthma and strabismus (crossed eyes).  1000 years ago I probably wouldn't have made it out of infancy!  Maybe not even 100 years ago.  But I did and I have been able to live life and do things I enjoy, I have made happy memories and hope to continue making more.  I can't guarantee a perfect future, I can only do my best to live my life and maybe making it better for myself and others.  I can balance my time on earth between enjoying life myself and helping to try and make it a better place for others, sometimes perhaps often being able to do both at the same time.  Maybe something bad will happen to me, maybe I'll die in an accident tomorrow, or get a serious illness, or the world will go to war.  I can't prevent bad things from ever happening, no one can.  I can only do my best with what I've got and live my life as best I can.  As far as I know this is the only life I've got, so I just have to do the best with it that I can.  Part of that, for me, includes spending some energy (but not all) on helping solve some of those bigger problems (like recycling, buy less ****, using more sustainable things, voting against people like Trump, speaking out against injustice and mistreatment, etc.). but it also involves living my life and enjoying it with my friends and family and even alone sometimes.  Because if I don't live my life then what's the point?  I can only do the best I can with the circumstances around me, thats all any of us can do.  If we wait for things to be perfect around us, well, we'll probably all be waiting a long LONG time, and unfortunately most if not all of us won't live long enough to see a perfect world, if such a thing is even possible.

Really loving your reply dksea. You are so right :yes:, we can only do the best we can with the circumstances around us. :57439eb60db27_thumbup:

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