Fear in face of collapse

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Surprise, surprise I'm paranoid; and I'm finally getting councilling for it. I'm find myself overwhelmed by fear at every turn. I worry about, (a long list):

-Peak oil
-Catastrophic climate change
-Illimani- Bilderburg nuts, ect
-war, occurring or upcoming
-the collapse of society
-the collapse of the economy
-the safety of my kids and family
-corruption
-Chemtrails
-fluoride in the water
-food security
-currency collapse
-inflation
-deflation
-Depleted uranium
-desertification
-sea level rise
-drought
-floods
-feeling worthless
-my job
-what if___________??
-how I've hurt others
-ect, ect

My therapist has asked me to personify fear and talk to it. He said he believes that my fear is a self-defense mechanism that I have created to fulfill a purpose, and to live with fear, I have to be able to talk to it.

He said 'imagine your fear sitting next to you on a park bench, what does it look like'? I said It's like a blue monolith stretching half way to the moon. He said 'can you ask it if you can talk to it'? I couldn't ask; and I became so overwhelmed he had to end the session. As therapy homework he told me to 'try to talk to your fear'.

Personifying emotions is difficult for me. I'm sure some portion of people in our society regularly talk to lamp posts, fire hydrants and so forth and expect replies; but I'm not currently in that camp. I researched this on the web and found this advice:

http://www.fluentself.com/blog/habits/t ... h-to-fear/

Basically the same thing he said, but said in a different way.

So I'm going to ask fellow true believers in peak oil, climate change, economic collapse, and what have you- are you afraid of what is coming as well?? How do you cope with your fear- do you talk to it, and if you do what do you say?

It sounds like you may have an anxiety disorder. You will probably need medication, and to learn to live with the fear. I used to fear all the big stuff too, and I still do, but medication helps. Also, you might consider that some of the things on your list, such as peak oil and climate change, won't happen all at once, but over decades, giving you a chance to plan. If economic collapse worries you, keep cash at home, buy a safe if you have to, and buy some silver to protect whatever wealth you may have. If you worry about food, learn to garden and get some chickens. You will eat healthier. If you worry about getting laid off, start a small business on the side. I believe there are filters that filter out fluoride in the water, buy one. War you can't do much about, but you can stay informed. Buy a shortwave radio, the Tecsun PL-660 is $115 shipped from Hong Kong via Ebay, and go to Prime Time Shortwave's web site and get schedules. I hear the latest threats from North Korea before anybody else, and I also hear stuff that the American media leaves out, such as the more dovish pronouncements from Kim & Co, like stimulating their economy and abolishing nukes. You don't have to wallow in fear, you can take steps to prepare for a lot of scenarios.

I too think about this stuff a lot. It makes me depressed rather than anxious. I do a lot of voluntary conservation work to educate people about the state of the planet. I also engage in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation as well as spending time regularly cleaning beaches and removing rubbish from underwater environments with other like minded people. It helps me to know that I am doing stuff to fix the problem and try to live harmoniously with nature it also helps that I am spreading the word and hopefully encouraging others to do the same. I also personally try to use less water, electricity, compost and eat a mostly vegetarian diet etc this helps reduce my impact whilst also helping prepare me for future shortages. I believe that humans have nearly destroyed the planet and we must either evolve to a point where we can live without too much destruction or face the fact that like the dinosaurs we will become extinct. Our lifetime will be an interesting one to see what happens in this regard. I don't care as much for the human lives that will be lost as we knew the situation rather I care about the innocent many species we are taking with us on our suicide mission. We all have to die someday so that is not what scares me. The inability for humans to rise above selfishness and come together to fix the planet is what I find incomprehensible.

I think about the end of the world as we know it a lot, but not with fear. Our current society is such a mess, completely falling back to nothing would be a blessing if one was to survive it. I have the skills to survive and protect my children and family in that kind of world. We are in a rural area, avid hunters, able to grow and preserve our own food, etc...

I say this only to set up my point. I used to be afraid of everything. As an abused autistic child the whole world was scary. Now, as a strong adult I manage my fear by preparing. Afraid of someone breaking in the house while my husband is gone? I have a dog, several knives and a shotgun that stays in my corner where I usually sit. Afraid of being attacked or raped? I have taken enough martial arts classes and encountered enough fights in my job as an EMT to know without a doubt that I can handle myself. End of the world? Storing food, studying farming and such as that, learning to shoot a crossbow and bow in addition to guns. Worried about school shootings? My son goes to a private school that you have to know is there to be able to find it with a heavy locked door on both exits and only 7 students. Afraid of my husband or children getting hurt or sick? As a paramedic, not only do I have a lot of medical knowledge (plus a run at medical school before I was unable to pay tuition) but also a lot of contacts with doctors if we needed help in an end-of-the-world scenario. Past that I am also a Christian and trust in God to handle the stuff that I can't deal with on my own.

My therapist says that this is trading in fear for control issues. Not saying this is healthy, but it is programmed into the autistic mind to focus on something. I focus on the necessity of survival. My husband occasionally rolls his eyes at some of my fears. He will still look at me funny if I take a knife with me to go outside to the truck at night. But he still got me a crossbow for Christmas.