The Year of Living Anxiously

Either “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or some guy watching CNN.

Because I’m a super fun guy, I’ve spent the last week or so pondering why 2016 felt like such an exquisitely awful year. Yes, humanity enjoyed some notable wins, but on the whole it seems that many people feel we ended this year behind rather than ahead. We were probably just one Elon Musk Kickstarter away from firing the whole thing into the Sun.

For me, 2016 carried an undercurrent of elevated anxiety. Did you feel it, too? The sense that things are coming undone? The constant worry? Like a kind of cosmic background radiation, all-encompassing yet hard to pin down?

Of course there are plenty of completely valid reasons to feel anxious right now! And even in the best of times, some people — like myself — are naturally prone to anxious thinking. But even accounting for these factors this year felt different to me.

So where did all this extra anxiety come from? Here’s my take: in 2016 we reached a tipping point in how we as a species consume and process information. And our brains haven’t caught-up.

It’s less that any one thing has fundamentally changed and more that existing, ongoing trends have finally crescendoed and intersected to the point where they’ve birthed something broadly poisonous. I’m talking about the confluence of:

• A 24-hour news cycle fueled by negativity, sensationalism, and idle speculation.
• The instantaneous dissemination of “news” across social media, along with the accompanying expectation of rapid-fire reaction and opinion (and, often, snowballing outrage).
• The ongoing rise of stream-based information media, particularly Slack and Twitter, which demand and reward (and I would argue, ultimately punish) a continual trickle of conscious attention.
• The ever growing expectation that we are connected and accessible at all times.
• The conflation of “multitasking” with “productivity.”
• …I could probably keep going but I already sound like Clifford Stoll.

This isn’t an anti-Internet screed. If anything, my intended audience here is Internet addicts like myself. I’m co-founder of what might reasonably be described as a digital media startup. I live online. I play online. I’ll probably die online. But I still can’t escape the feeling that we crossed some sort of line this year. That our ability to produce and consume information finally surpassed our ability to process it, and that the resulting anxiety is here to stay. Unless we do something about it.

But what to do? I’m not sure there’s a single magic solution, and YMMV. For me, I’ve set some personal goals for 2017 that I hope will help. Maybe some of them could help you, too?

10 anxiety killers for 2017

1. Stop watching TV/cable news. All of it. Period. Don’t feed the beast even a morsel. You don’t need it. You never did. And it’s making you ill.
2. Subscribe to a reputable newspaper. Make it your primary news source, and reap the benefits of a stronger commitment to actual journalism, not to mention a generally calmer tone and pace. Pay money for it. We’re more likely to value, use, and savor things that we pay for.
3. Moderate your data ingestion. (This one’s hard.) Don’t keep Facebook and Twitter open all the time. Same with Slack, unless your job utterly demands it… in which case you have my sympathy. Check email periodically, not constantly. Oh, and that newspaper you just subscribed to? Don’t check its website constantly.
4. Read fiction. Reading is fun and satisfying. Fiction fuels the imagination and gives us a break from reality. Stories change our thinking and expand our perspectives. But perhaps most importantly, reading builds empathy. And empathy is one of anxiety’s natural enemies.
5. Write more. Putting words to paper or screen engages our brains and focuses our thoughts in a uniquely powerful manner. If you’re at all like me, writing suppresses a whole bunch of anxieties and replaces them with just one: anxiety about writing. Don’t laugh! That’s a good thing. Because unlike most sources of anxiety, the words you write are entirely under your own control. And with practice, you’ll get better at it. (Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.)
6. Don’t be idle. To repurpose an odious phrase, an idle mind is anxiety’s workshop. Don’t give it space. Cultivate a hobby. Get involved in a cause or organization that’s meaningful to you. Commit renewed time and effort to your friendships. Travel, if you can. (Note that this isn’t the same as saying “never relax” or “always stay busy.” I’m talking about engaging yourself in fulfilling activities rather than either working for work’s sake or surrendering to boredom.)
7. Forgive yourself. There will be much to fight for and against in 2017. And some of us face truly existential threats which require vigilance. But remember that you need to take care of yourself, too. You don’t have to fight everyone’s fight. Pick your battles when you can. Retreat when you must. Live to fight another day. Life is a marathon.
8. Exercise and/or meditate. These may seem like two very different activities, but they share a very important trait: they bring your mind into the current moment. Being “present” is like Advil for anxiety.
9. Talk to someone. We need to destigmatize mental health. Your mind deserves as much care as your body. Find a therapist and talk to them. Even if money is tight, there are options out there. And if your anxiety is rooted in neurochemistry, be open to medication. Always remember: it’s not your fault, you’re not alone, and you deserve the chance to feel better.
10. Make sure you have an account on every messaging or chat service. Just kidding. Don’t do that. Jeez.

Stephen is co-founder and CEO of Storium, the online creative writing game. He lives in San Jose, CA.