Overwhelmingly anxious.

[[Jo...]]

I thought tapering was harrowing. Now we have a contagious pathogen,  and absurd violent rioting. I find this unholy troika disturbing to the point of irrational fear, crying and trepidation.  You in the same boat? Meditation not helping. Yoga not helping. Knee is shot so can't  walk to dissipate adrenaline surges. The creepiness of Antifa has me shaking as my great grandparents knew the pain of Russian style socialism. I'm mentally drowning in anxiety and fear.

[[tr...]]

Don't watch the news. Stay off social media. I'm serious.

 

News is "ratings" driven. So they take whatever is a bad situation and amplify it as much as possible.

 

And various news station/sites are politically driven  - and both political parties have their own sites. so things can be very biased.

 

Withdrawal makes us feel like there is impending doom all the time. It is benzo brain. You've got to distract with positive, calming things.

 

Focus on you right now and your healing. you cannot change world events. you can only control you.

[[Fr...]]

Hey Joyatlast,

 

I'm right there with you. Current events have me left me more anxious than ever, and the thought of braving modern society is pretty terrifying and probably contributes to the existent agoraphobia that many of us deal with through withdrawal. It's created anxiety that makes me afraid I'll seize (it's been over three months for me so I know intuitively this is unlikely), get attacked, or get sick. Hang in there, you're not the only one. The world's a tough place right now but hopefully withdrawal and anxiety won't be as tough forever.

[[...]]

Yes, I have panic disorder, gen anxiety disorder and germ specific OCD so that's super fun with a pandemic going on. It's a tough time to taper but I still am trying to move forward slowly. 😊

[[Jo...]]

Thank you everyone. The "boat" is not as scary knowing there are some of us in the same one. Navigating the crisis-du-jour is an added treat on top of a taper, for sure. I am going to limit media exposure. Very good advice, thank you all!