A few things I do when I’m feeling really overwhelmed:
(1) Inform my feelings with facts. It sounds like you’re already doing that by planning what you could do if things get worse. I wonder if you’re also thinking about how unlikely a catastrophic nuclear war is as well? Of course the risk is far higher than it should be, but it’s still less likely than no nuclear war at all.
I’m a policy advisor so I sometimes like to write advice for myself as if I were writing it for a politician, with a 1-page summary of the problem and then 2-3 options including which option(s) I recommend. Sometimes the best option is “Do nothing unless X”. Then if I’m tempted to revisit my plans, but X hasn’t happened, I can remind myself I’ve already thought it through and I don’t need to take action yet.
(2) Talk it through. Getting my feelings out of my head helps me so much. Messaging a friend and saying “I’ve been really stressed, would you be free to let me talk it out?” or just meeting to with a friend generally and having the courage to bring it up when they ask “How are you doing?” My therapist also really helps me with my stress.
(3) Get out of my head and away from the source of the stress! Go swimming or running, meet up with a friend, babysit someone’s kids, watch a movie… anything that gets me thinking about something else for a few hours at least.
I’m sorry to hear you’re having such a hard time.
A few things I do when I’m feeling really overwhelmed:
(1) Inform my feelings with facts. It sounds like you’re already doing that by planning what you could do if things get worse. I wonder if you’re also thinking about how unlikely a catastrophic nuclear war is as well? Of course the risk is far higher than it should be, but it’s still less likely than no nuclear war at all.
I’m a policy advisor so I sometimes like to write advice for myself as if I were writing it for a politician, with a 1-page summary of the problem and then 2-3 options including which option(s) I recommend. Sometimes the best option is “Do nothing unless X”. Then if I’m tempted to revisit my plans, but X hasn’t happened, I can remind myself I’ve already thought it through and I don’t need to take action yet.
(2) Talk it through. Getting my feelings out of my head helps me so much. Messaging a friend and saying “I’ve been really stressed, would you be free to let me talk it out?” or just meeting to with a friend generally and having the courage to bring it up when they ask “How are you doing?” My therapist also really helps me with my stress.
(3) Get out of my head and away from the source of the stress! Go swimming or running, meet up with a friend, babysit someone’s kids, watch a movie… anything that gets me thinking about something else for a few hours at least.
I hope this helps. You’re in my thoughts.