Hey Cole! I also went through a period of feeling pretty worried about s-risks, and have recently come out the other side. If you’d like someone to talk to, or even any advice re: any materials you might find helpful for coming to accept/loosen the grip of fear and anxiety, my inbox is open (I’m a clinical psych PhD student and have lots of resources for existential/humanist therapy, compassion-focused therapy, CBT, DBT, etc.). I’ve probably read a lot of what you’re worried about, so you don’t need to worry about having any hazardous effect on me :)
Also, I’d love to learn more from you about your research! I like your posts.
I’d like to publicly take you up on the offer of sharing “any materials you might find helpful for coming to accept/loosen the grip of fear and anxiety”. Do you have recommendations that would likely benefit most people who deal with anxiety?
Hi! Yes :) I think a good framework for working on anxiety on your own is Self-Compassion Therapy (SCT). I like SCT for existential anxiety in particular because its success doesn’t hinge on your ability to change your external circumstances and it doesn’t presuppose your degree of worry is disproportionate relative to the “actual threat” posed by the object of your worry. Here are some exercises published by Kristin Neff, a well-regarded self-compassion researcher/practitioner: https://self-compassion.org/self-compassion-practices/. There are also lots of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) guided meditations online, e.g., https://www.jeffersonhealth.org/conditions-and-treatments/mindfulness-based-stress-reduction/mindfulness/mbsr-guided-practices—I’d look into the body scans to start, as anxiety often manifests as muscle tension and intervening on muscle tension can indirectly alleviate anxiety.
If you have access to insurance coverage for therapy, I would additionally recommend looking into Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). I’m partial to EFT overall for most clinical presentations, though I like CBT for social anxiety as I think social exposures can be quite powerful.
Outside of targeted mental health interventions, I’d recommend making time for loved ones, community, fun, creative play, exercise, etc. and limiting exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli where possible. This may be obvious but it’s easy to forget about the basics.
Hey Cole! I also went through a period of feeling pretty worried about s-risks, and have recently come out the other side. If you’d like someone to talk to, or even any advice re: any materials you might find helpful for coming to accept/loosen the grip of fear and anxiety, my inbox is open (I’m a clinical psych PhD student and have lots of resources for existential/humanist therapy, compassion-focused therapy, CBT, DBT, etc.). I’ve probably read a lot of what you’re worried about, so you don’t need to worry about having any hazardous effect on me :)
Also, I’d love to learn more from you about your research! I like your posts.
I’d like to publicly take you up on the offer of sharing “any materials you might find helpful for coming to accept/loosen the grip of fear and anxiety”. Do you have recommendations that would likely benefit most people who deal with anxiety?
Hi! Yes :) I think a good framework for working on anxiety on your own is Self-Compassion Therapy (SCT). I like SCT for existential anxiety in particular because its success doesn’t hinge on your ability to change your external circumstances and it doesn’t presuppose your degree of worry is disproportionate relative to the “actual threat” posed by the object of your worry. Here are some exercises published by Kristin Neff, a well-regarded self-compassion researcher/practitioner: https://self-compassion.org/self-compassion-practices/. There are also lots of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) guided meditations online, e.g., https://www.jeffersonhealth.org/conditions-and-treatments/mindfulness-based-stress-reduction/mindfulness/mbsr-guided-practices—I’d look into the body scans to start, as anxiety often manifests as muscle tension and intervening on muscle tension can indirectly alleviate anxiety.
If you have access to insurance coverage for therapy, I would additionally recommend looking into Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). I’m partial to EFT overall for most clinical presentations, though I like CBT for social anxiety as I think social exposures can be quite powerful.
Outside of targeted mental health interventions, I’d recommend making time for loved ones, community, fun, creative play, exercise, etc. and limiting exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli where possible. This may be obvious but it’s easy to forget about the basics.