The "Freakout Addiction" — Is the Sky ACTUALLY Falling?

Without a doubt, there's a lot going on in the world at the moment that would lead a lot of people to freak out.

Aside from the usual dose of international conflicts, government nonsense, and now a trade/tariff war people are freaking out because the financial markets seemed to be taking it in the shorts for a few days.

One of the things I often realize when I look at some of the people around me — and read commentaries online — is that it seems like there are plenty of people in this world who simply enjoy the state of ”being freaked out” without actually doing any personal assessment or deeper research to determine whether or not they're fully justified in their freak-out-ishness.

The thing about this strange planet of ours is that things invariably cycle up or down over time. There's pretty much never been a time when things didn't cycle up or down, and we can almost always come up with a perfectly good reason why the world is taking a temporary dump due to some piece of bad news.

Truth, perhaps... but it's unlikely to be a permanent situation!

I am reminded of a particular cousin of mine who always used to freak out whenever the first frost in fall would strike. Not like this was somehow a novelty or a surprise — after all, winter happens pretty consistently, once a year — but you'd think from her state of near-panic that an unexpected ice age was about to begin!

Of course, the sky really isn't falling, and there's no new ice age about to start.

Which brings me around to a conversation I had with my therapist, many many years ago: Some people simply have chaotic minds, and will then defend the chaos they create — or contribute to — with the assertion that they are simply being passionate about whatever is causing them to flip out.

Of course, many of us like to be COMpassionate people, and possess a natural leaning toward being empathetic... but it's important to keep in mind that sometimes our good nature is being taken advantage of by people who literally have something akin to a "freakout addiction."

There are many different ways to get your dopamine hits, and not all of them are psychologically healthy!

I'll be the first to admit that the ongoing economic and world situation can be a nit unnerving!

But the I also have to remind myself that it is not particularly productive to expend a lot of energy and emotional bandwidth on worrying about things over which I have little or no control. Hereunder what's going on in the world.

Pretty much the only way I have much control in the situation is in terms of how I choose to respond to what I read and learn.

Which brings me to the next point: The often heard excuse that you "can't help it," often offered up by those in the middle of having their 45th freaky-fit.

Trust me. You can "help it." You just choose not to.

Something I learned the hard way during a period of my life when it seemed like virtually everything I knew and was involved with crumbling and turning to dust.

It's likely that we are all going to have some turbulent and lean times ahead. But as to whether the sky is really falling?

I don't think so!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your week!

How about you? Do you stay pretty even-tempered in the face of distrubing news? Or are you more likely to go into a state of anxiety? Or does it just depend on the nature of the news? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2025.04.15 23:26 PDT
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