I hate to post this kind of stuff, but I do like the anonymity of places like this. Anyways, have any of you been struggling with anxiety dealing with everything going on lately? Now with all that this year has brought I’ve been pretty down lately. I think this ‘derecho’ Iowa and other states just went thru has been kind of the breaking point for me and many other folks I know. What’s really bugging me though are some of my dreams.......I know weird right? But this past one really woke me up in a cold sweat. We were out camping and just sitting around a bonfire when my 2 year old son fell in. WTF. Just a kid being a kid. I had to get up and go check on him just so I can hear his breathing. I don’t know guys......I don’t even know why I’m sharing this but just feel like I gotta get some shit off my chest. Covid, the un ending political ads, explosions, derecho’s, sports dropping out right and left.......I don’t need these dreams to add to my worries.

I don’t know guys.....

It is not messing with me too much, but my daughter is a senior in high school and it is killing here. She has gained weight. She is having regular nightmares. She is really mad about how all of her favorite things about school (band, Girls Sate, etc) are being cancelled. But a lot of it is related to her decisions about college. I think she would be highly stressed out over that even if there was no pndemic ***** everything up.

Some will say that it is good for people to acknowledge the issues in 2020. I say F that. To an extent, there is really only so much that we can do. I say focus on the good if you can find it. Because everything can be taken away from us in the blink of an eye.

With that being said, as a lot of people already know, our brains during dreams will mash up a lot of our fears, problems and fantasies in life (personal/world stuff) because this is what we do... Even when we are asleep, we stress and problem solve. That is a very scary dream. To me, and I could be wrong, it seems like a mixture of Murphy's Law and the year we live in (2020). "What else can go wrong?".

I've had some dreams this year that I would like to forget. I'm sure nightmares are at an all time high in the world right now. You really can't turn on the TV without something being shoved down your throat (political ads, protests, covid, etc.). It would be nice if we could at least come to Jungle Noise and talk football without someone bringing up politics or covid every damn time. Yeah yeah, I know. "wElL iF iT aFfEcTs tHe TeAm". I get that, but it's probably 90% of JN right now. If someone mentions politics, covid is brought up and vise versa. Then you have people jabbing at religion and getting away with it. I'm sick of it.

My anxiety is pretty high this year. Mainly because there is no escape from 2020. Happy thoughts man. Focus on the good. Maybe pick up a hobby or two in the garage, stay off social media as much as possible if you are having that much anxiety that it's causing dreams like that. You're not alone. Trust me.

I think more people, than any of us realize, are a bit stressed. It's been a tough year. So bad that you don't know if there's light at the end of the tunnel or just a darker darkness. Typically, when we face hard times in a period of our life it is one or two things. However, when the bad things happening keep coming one after another, well, it becomes a little tougher to rebound. Your not different than the rest of us. As a matter of fact, I would almost say those less affected might be the exception. However, we just get up everyday and do what we do and press on. Fortunately, I've not had much disruption this year because my work wasn't interrupted and I've tried (not always successful) to stay less involved in the news and those things I have no control. We have enough family drama at the moment to keep us going right now.

A Dr. told my wife once (not sure if she translated it to me correctly or if the information was correct) that when a chain of bad events occur one right after another, it becomes a little difficult for the mind to rebound. It has something to do with producing seratonin or one of those chemicals the brain produces to help us deal with stuff. Sometimes a Dr will prescribe an anti-depressant for a short time to help the brain start producing at normal levels again if that makes any sense (I probably butchered the hell out of it).

Anyway, keep you head up brother. I think sometimes things pile on and then the littlest of stuff effects us more than it should because, well, we get tired of dealing with it. So, I would just go mow the yard if I was you and make it look GAF, then grab a beer and look at the accomplishment and build from there. As tough as it is to stay positive nowadays, do your best to be your best and screw it if you break down every now and then. We're only human right?

(08-14-2020, 05:13 PM)Takedown Wrote: Some will say that it is good for people to acknowledge the issues in 2020. I say F that. To an extent, there is really only so much that we can do. I say focus on the good if you can find it. Because everything can be taken away from us in the blink of an eye.

With that being said, as a lot of people already know, our brains during dreams will mash up a lot of our fears, problems and fantasies in life (personal/world stuff) because this is what we do... Even when we are asleep, we stress and problem solve. That is a very scary dream. To me, and I could be wrong, it seems like a mixture of Murphy's Law and the year we live in (2020). "What else can go wrong?".

I've had some dreams this year that I would like to forget. I'm sure nightmares are at an all time high in the world right now. You really can't turn on the TV without something being shoved down your throat (political ads, protests, covid, etc.). It would be nice if we could at least come to Jungle Noise and talk football without someone bringing up politics or covid every damn time. Yeah yeah, I know. "wElL iF iT aFfEcTs tHe TeAm". I get that, but it's probably 90% of JN right now. If someone mentions politics, covid is brought up and vise versa. Then you have people jabbing at religion and getting away with it. I'm sick of it.

My anxiety is pretty high this year. Mainly because there is no escape from 2020. Happy thoughts man. Focus on the good. Maybe pick up a hobby or two in the garage, stay off social media as much as possible if you are having that much anxiety that it's causing dreams like that. You're not alone. Trust me.

Yep... 2020 has been good in the way that it showed me how much I miss my normal day to day life that I always bitched about.

Truthfully the last 3 years have been rough for me. Divorce with a small kid involved, and the financial and emotional troubles that come with it were beating my ass... Things had started to come around on both fronts then THIS happened... So I guess in an odd way I was being primed for a year of non stop shittiness.

And you nailed the social media part... I unplugged 2 and a half years ago... I don't miss it a bit.

Things will turn around sooner or later... Hang in there fellas.

(08-14-2020, 08:29 PM)jason Wrote: Yep... 2020 has been good in the way that it showed me how much I miss my normal day to day life that I always bitched about.

Truthfully the last 3 years have been rough for me. Divorce with a small kid involved, and the financial and emotional troubles that come with it were beating my ass... Things had started to come around on both fronts then THIS happened... So I guess in an odd way I was being primed for a year of non stop shittiness.

And you nailed the social media part... I unplugged 2 and a half years ago... I don't miss it a bit.

Things will turn around sooner or later... Hang in there fellas.

Dude. Social distance bro hug. Bro hug to all of you. Life sucks sometimes, and in this case, it sucks for almost everyone. Jason, I have been through what you have been through and it seriously breaks my freaken heart. Why? Because I know how bad it hurts and that the story runs deeper than some can even imagine. My heart is with you and your kid man. Divorce hurts the kid worse than the adults most of the time.

Always here if you want to talk. 

I'm afraid I've begun to enjoy isolation a little too much. Since it all started, I've pieced together a home gym to avoid going to commercial clubs. I've gotten used to the click list to avoid the grocery. I work in my yard or on the house, and have little desire to do much of anything else.

The bad of it for me is the pandemic/civil unrest aspect of social media. I mess around in P&R here, but I generally keep that kind of discussion limited to family, close friends, and people that I feel can take an honest challenge in debate without hurt feelings. I rarely if ever post about politics on social media. I can't say the same for my friends, many of whom have apparently gone off the deep end with politics and conspiracy crap. I don't even feel comfortable talking to them about it. It's greatly effected my views of many people I once genuinely liked for the worse. Sad, really. It's not even a right/left thing. It's just a depressing willingness to believe any lie or stupidity that reinforces their current beliefs.

Otherwise, I did get a bit bummed thinking about the oncoming fall that won't have college football. Football season definitely effects my mental state for the better when it gets here. It's my Christmas/Birthday, really. Life is just better when it comes back, and now it may not. it will be tough to process when September gets here.

I know.


We are humans. We get through tough times. It's just what we do. Keep your head up and help the cause.

Just know that everyday you are above ground beats the alternative. Live it the best you can for you and your family. Strength is knowing you're struggling and asking for help. Be it on this message board or professional. I'm just a PM away for anyone who just wants to talk.

Hang in there buddy. I'm sorry to hear about your feelings. But know you always have us here to talk to. Lot's of good posts in here, things will get better.

I can relate.  These last 6 months or so have been stressful.   When things with Covid started getting bad and supplies were running low at the stores I was very stressed out even though I keep plenty of emergency supplies.  At one point I started having some tooth pain.  Having tooth problems was not something I wanted to deal with given the timing. Once things calmed a bit the pain went away.   It turns out I think I was grinding my teeth in my sleep due to the stress.  

I definitely carry my stress into my sleep.  I have a bad habit of letting my thoughts go to worse case scenario no matter how unlikely that scenario really is.  At times that is a good thing because it helps me plan ahead for the worse case and think about what I would do.  At other times it gets a little out of control and causes unneeded extra stress.  For example during the supply shortage I had excessive thoughts about having to protect myself and my supplies if people short on food started looting to get what they need.  Then those fears entered my dreams and probably lead to the teeth grinding.

I've found that reading before bed helps a bit.  Instead of going to sleep with all these stressful thoughts on my mind, reading a book until I start feeling really sleepy helps keep me from falling asleep thinking about real life stuff.

I've also made a rule that I do my best to stick to (but don't always follow), no reading/watching news after 6 PM.  Also no Internet viewing after 8 PM.   That gives me a nice buffer before bed time to get all the depressing and stressful information out of my head.  As mentioned above I also ditched social media a few years ago as well.  Just too much garbage being posted as well as the privacy concerns that come with it.  

Anyway hang in there.  We will get through all this over time.  As others have stated if anyone here wants to chat a bit, just talk about what they are going though without judgment or political talk etc. feel free to PM me.  I can't promise I'll respond quickly but I will respond and do my best to listen and reply honestly and respectfully.  

(08-15-2020, 12:28 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: I can relate.  These last 6 months or so have been stressful.   When things with Covid started getting bad and supplies were running low at the stores I was very stressed out even though I keep plenty of emergency supplies.  At one point I started having some tooth pain.  Having tooth problems was not something I wanted to deal with given the timing. Once things calmed a bit the pain went away.   It turns out I think I was grinding my teeth in my sleep due to the stress.  

I definitely carry my stress into my sleep.  I have a bad habit of letting my thoughts go to worse case scenario no matter how unlikely that scenario really is.  At times that is a good thing because it helps me plan ahead for the worse case and think about what I would do.  At other times it gets a little out of control and causes unneeded extra stress.  For example during the supply shortage I had excessive thoughts about having to protect myself and my supplies if people short on food started looting to get what they need.  Then those fears entered my dreams and probably lead to the teeth grinding.

I've found that reading before bed helps a bit.  Instead of going to sleep with all these stressful thoughts on my mind, reading a book until I start feeling really sleepy helps keep me from falling asleep thinking about real life stuff.

I've also made a rule that I do my best to stick to (but don't always follow), no reading/watching news after 6 PM.  Also no Internet viewing after 8 PM.   That gives me a nice buffer before bed time to get all the depressing and stressful information out of my head.  As mentioned above I also ditched social media a few years ago as well.  Just too much garbage being posted as well as the privacy concerns that come with it.  

Anyway hang in there.  We will get through all this over time.  As others have stated if anyone here wants to chat a bit, just talk about what they are going though without judgment or political talk etc. feel free to PM me.  I can't promise I'll respond quickly but I will respond and do my best to listen and reply honestly and respectfully.  

I was caught completely flat footed when supplies and even food were short. As a single dude, I'd generally only have food around the house when my daughter was around. I remember passing a packed fish fry on the way to the grocery store that Friday evening. I walked into Kroger, and my mouth dropped... There was nothing! No soup, pasta, ramen, meat, cheese, milk, toilet paper... All gone. I couldn't make sense of that after I'd just passed a completely full parking lot where people were drinking, gambling, and breathing on each other's food. So I remember that anxiety from the other perspective... I remember thinking about not being able to find any of these things for God knows how long, and what it might have to come too.

I remember walking out of the store mumbling and cursing under my breathe about Lord of the Flies time. Thankfully we all settled down... A lil anyway.

(08-15-2020, 12:52 PM)jason Wrote: I was caught completely flat footed when supplies and even food were short. As a single dude, I'd generally only have food around the house when my daughter was around. I remember passing a packed fish fry on the way to the grocery store that Friday evening. I walked into Kroger, and my mouth dropped... There was nothing! No soup, pasta, ramen, meat, cheese, milk, toilet paper... All gone. I couldn't make sense of that after I'd just passed a completely full parking lot where people were drinking, gambling, and breathing on each other's food. So I remember that anxiety from the other perspective... I remember thinking about not being able to find any of these things for God knows how long, and what it might have to come too.

I remember walking out of the store mumbling and cursing under my breathe about Lord of the Flies time. Thankfully we all settled down... A lil anyway.

I wasn't really worried to much, but it did lower my respect for the human race.  People were acting like it was a nuclear holocaust. We had enough TP at home because its just the wife and I. I was more pissed about meat prices. Wen't to Sav-A-Lot and they were charging $7.99 lb for 73% lean hamburger? I was ready to go Chuck Norris up in that place (not really, I'm a pretty laid back dude). I had an elderly lady ram my cart that day also because I let the lady in front of me run and grab something she forgot. I just turned and looked at her and gave a soft grin. Freakin people were being crazy.

If the stores would have run out of beer tho, I may have panicked, but they didn't, and all was harmony in the universe.
 

(08-15-2020, 02:28 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I wasn't really worried to much, but it did lower my respect for the human race.  People were acting like it was a nuclear holocaust. We had enough TP at home because its just the wife and I. I was more pissed about meat prices. Wen't to Sav-A-Lot and they were charging $7.99 lb for 73% lean hamburger? I was ready to go Chuck Norris up in that place (not really, I'm a pretty laid back dude). I had an elderly lady ram my cart that day also because I let the lady in front of me run and grab something she forgot. I just turned and looked at her and gave a soft grin. Freakin people were being crazy.

If the stores would have run out of beer tho, I may have panicked, but they didn't, and all was harmony in the universe.
 

I remember watching a lady trying to reach the last pack of toilet paper at a Walmart... I couldn't resist messing with her. When she was finally close to having it off the top rack I said "Little do you know that you were just getting that down for me.".... But no seriously; I was reliant on the Arab carryout around the corner for toilet paper for a week or two... He also had the hook-up on sanitizer... Some shit called Covid-X... That's gotta be some powerful stuff.

See the bright side is we can look back and laugh a lil, but I know the fatigue of it all is wearing... Add that to the political and social state of the country, and it can be exhausting at times.

(08-15-2020, 03:18 PM)jason Wrote: I remember watching a lady trying to reach the last pack of toilet paper at a Walmart... I couldn't resist messing with her. When she was finally close to having it off the top rack I said "Little do you know that you were just getting that down for me.".... But no seriously; I was reliant on the Arab carryout around the corner for toilet paper for a week or two... He also had the hook-up on sanitizer... Some shit called Covid-X... That's gotta be some powerful stuff.

See the bright side is we can look back and laugh a lil, but I know the fatigue of it all is wearing... Add that to the political and social state of the country, and it can be exhausting at times.

Nicely said.