Survival Tip: Do something (doomscrolling doesn't count)
Stress Response 101:
Brains in general are evolutionally wired to prioritize information that it perceives as being threatening (Source)
When our brain perceives threat, lots of things happen neurochemically and hormonally to switch our brain into super stupid survival space (Source)
Super stupid survival space is about escaping the tiger that is chasing us and not about making intelligent, reasonable long term decisions (Source)
We basically have four options in super stupid survival space: fight, flight, freeze, fawn based on a instantaneous, reflexive, unconscious decision our brain makes that is sort of informed by our past experiences and sort of informed by a quick scan of the environment and sort of random based on the electrical charge of our spine juices and brain jelly (Source)
The tiger that is chasing us doesn't have to actually be a tiger. It can be something we thought was a tiger, or something we were taught to associate with a tiger, or something that happened the last time we were chased by a tiger, etc (Source)
Replace tiger with anything our brain thinks is stressful (traffic, political information, social interactions, etc.) and the same process takes place (Source)
Completing the stress cycle:
If we don't address the threat in some way (e.g. fight- and the scary thing dies or gets scared away, flight- run away from the threat, freeze- the threat thinks you're dead and doesn't eat you, the threat doesn't see you and moves on, fawn- the threat is on your side now and promises not to eat you so your safe-ish now) our body and brain will continue to function as though we are still being chased by the tiger (Source)
This, understandably, fucks our shit up (Source)
To survive, we have to complete the stress cycle. We have to identify the physiological stress response, move our selves our of the super stupid survival space and back into the grounded, neutral, can make reasonable long term decisions space (Source)
If we keep ourselves in the stress response, our bodies literally disintegrate at the molecular level (Source)
Do this, not that
Practice resilience, the ability to experience stress and move oneself from a state of hyper-activation (too much activation: fight, flight, fawn) or hypo-activation (too little activation: freeze) to our area of normal functioning (the "window of tolerance") (Source)
Other minority groups know how to do this better than we do (Source) (Source)
This is *much* harder for folks with ADHD (Source)
We have to learn to identify a stress response, take responsibility for the things under our control, and complete the stress cycle.
Don't say: "But everything is hard and bad and I can't possibly do anything else"
Do this instead: Do something. Validate ("This is hard and it makes sense that I feel overwhelmed and scared), identify stress response ("I want to fight with someone on the internet, who actually thinks the same way I do and wants the same things I do, about this"; "I am going to avoid it and do nothing and disassociate in my house"; "I am just going to move to a different country and that will fix everything"), complete the stress cycle ("I can't do very much, but I can check on my trans friends"/"I can take a shower so my body feels more comfortable"/"I can make sure that I attend my community support group"/"I can research, collate, and disseminate information about effective forms of political activism")
Don't say: "But I have (insert identity marker or disability or geographic issue or impact of social systemic oppression) so I can't do anything"
Say Instead: Do something. Validate ("Things are more difficult for me. There are probably things I cannot do, cannot do at this time, or are too costly in terms of resources for me to do and keep myself safe and well. It makes sense that I feel sad and angry about that") identify stress response ("I am going to attack this person on the internet because they didn't think about my specific needs."; "I am going to assume that my help is not going to be useful or that no one will want it"; "Someone should come and save me"; "I am going to blame this system or this person for what is wrong and excuse myself from having to do anything") complete the stress cycle ("Things are hard and I have limited time and energy. I can't do everything. I can make intentional choices about the things under my control. I can choose to mediate for 20 minutes. I can choose to go for a walk. I can decide I am going to give myself experiences that are positive, exciting, and meaningful") (Source)
Don't say: "Its a holocaust and we are all going into concentration camps"
Say Instead: Do something. Validate ("This is really scary. I don't know what is going to happen and I know that things could get really unsafe/unsafer for me and the people I care about. It feels like I need to do something urgently. This reaction makes sense because...*fill in for what's true for you*") identify stress response ("If I continue to live in the emotional space that a genocide is imminent and unavoidable, it makes me feel like I have to fight everyone or give up."; "If I sit with all of my anger and powerlessness, it feels too big and I can't feel anything else") complete the stress cycle ("I am going to set limits to how often or how deeply I interact with information that is scary or speculative. I am going to make sure I put myself in situations that remind me that people do have power, do care about each other, and can do important things to help one another. I will resist being pulled into black/white extremist thinking. I will identify and articulate harm when I see it and maintain my own embodied understanding of safety which informs the boundaries I set and requests I make").