Feeling lost?

[*jason*]

(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.