What You Can Do When Things Seem Too Much

Sometimes everything in your life can seem too much to handle. When it feels like there are so many things going wrong at the same time, you might find it hard to cope.

Some typical symptoms of this include feeling like you have too many choices to make and not enough time to think through them. Or you might have anxious thoughts about going to work. When it seems like the whole world is against you, that’s the time to take action.

Regardless of why you’re feeling overwhelmed, there are some simple steps you can take to feel better, put things back into perspective, and get your life back on track again.

Talk to Someone

The best way to interrupt the conversation in your head is to talk to someone. Verbalizing your thoughts and putting your emotions into words can help you begin to put them into perspective. 

However, you need to be selective about who you talk to. If you vent to a family member or a friend, they might be sympathetic, but chances are they also won’t have a clue how to help you. In fact, they might even aggravate your feelings by saying all the wrong things  —  no matter how well-intentioned.

The good news is that there are places you can turn to for help. You can get the emotional help and support you need quickly by finding a qualified online therapist from a website like Emote Life Therapy. You won’t have to go to an office, but can simply talk to the therapist through your computer or mobile device, either texting or using video.

Put Things Into a Broader Context

Although you might feel that your issues are personal, only impacting you, you might actually be affected by the social repercussions of the pandemic, a socioeconomic crisis distressing millions of people.

For instance, if you’re panicking because you’re struggling to pay the rent, it may have nothing to do with anything you have control over. The pandemic has had an impact on everyone in one way or another. While knowing you are not alone might not solve your problems, it can help to know you are not alone.

Here’s the thing: it’s difficult to figure out what to do during a sudden global crisis like this pandemic. Rather than beating yourself up with self-doubt and negative feelings, put things into context by recognizing you’re caught in the dragnet of a global crisis  —  and not one of your own making.

Drop Your Stress

Everything seems a lot worse when you’re stressed. Without realizing it, you can easily blow things out of proportion. You’re listening to the news, then suddenly catastrophizing personal worries. You’re seeing temporary setbacks as permanent conditions. 

When you learn how to de-stress, your anxiety or despair will start to fade.

Fortunately, stress management doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some simple ways to reduce stress:

• Follow along with the gentle flowing movements of a Tai Chi instructor on a DVD.
• Go for a long hike in the mountains or a long walk on the beach  —  get into nature.
• Play with your dog or cat or child, forget your troubles as you see the world through their eyes.
• Write your heart out in your journal. Journaling improves mental health and well-being.
• Binge-watch comedies on Netflix and chuckle at absurd things. Laughter is effective medicine when times get tough.

When you lower your anxiety or depression and relax your body, you’ll be amazed at the change in your perspective. You might even find a few simple solutions to problems that seemed impossible to resolve.

Lower Your Expectations

Often, we get upset because we’re deeply disappointed with ourselves, other people, or the world. By lowering your unrealistic expectations of others, you’ll feel happier because you’ll get a more realistic perspective on things. That doesn’t mean to condone mistreatment or expect people to be thoughtless. It means not putting them (or yourself) on a high pedestal or expect perfection. That’s an impossible standard no one can meet.

Instead, after you’ve talked to a therapist, put things in context, dropped your stress, and lowered your expectations, you might just start to see the world differently.