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The Exhaustion of Loving Your Country: Healing Collective Distress & Finding Hope in Personal Connection · A Capture Deep Vibs A Positive Space For Inspiration And Embracing Of Heart

• 0:00
  Speaker 2: Do you feel it?
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  Speaker 1: That constant, low-grade hum of anxiety. The dread of checking
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the news. The feeling that you're in a tiny boat
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in an ocean of endless, reckless conflict.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: You are exhausted.
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  Speaker 1: You're fed up with the politicians, the performative activists, the
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  Speaker 1: hate groups, the sheer, overwhelming stupidity of it all.
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  Speaker 2: You love your country. but you're starting to hate what
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: it's becoming.
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  Speaker 1: And if you have a history of trauma, of having
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  Speaker 1: things taken away from you, this constant battle can feel
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  Speaker 1: like salt in an open wound.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: It's beyond frustration. It's a psychological injury.
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  Speaker 1: And today we're going to talk about why it's happening
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  Speaker 1: and how you can.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Start to breathe again.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: So what you're experiencing has a name. Psychologists call this
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  Speaker 1: collective distress. It's distress, anger, and helplessness you feel from
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  Speaker 1: the state of the world and your society. It's amplified
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: by a phenomenon called vicarious trauma. You don't have to
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  Speaker 1: be in the protest to feel the fight. You absorb
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  Speaker 1: it secondhand through your phone, your TV, your conversations. It's
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  Speaker 1: real trauma, and it has real physical symptoms, like that
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  Speaker 1: stress rash, the insomnia, the knot in your stomach that never.
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  Speaker 2: Quite goes away.
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  Speaker 1: For those with existing trauma, especially related to loss or betrayal,
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  Speaker 1: this is even more potent. Your brain is already wired
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  Speaker 1: to be on high alert for threats. When you see
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  Speaker 1: politicians trying to take away rights or activists fighting over
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  Speaker 1: things you cherish, it triggers your deepest fears of being powerless.
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  Speaker 1: It's a reenactment of your worst nightmares. So, Why does
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  Speaker 1: it feel like everyone's addicted to this conflict? Because on
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  Speaker 1: a neurological level, anger and outrage can be briefly stimulating.
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  Speaker 1: It gives you a sense of purpose, of being right,
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  Speaker 1: of fighting back, but it's a trap. Constant outrage keeps
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  Speaker 1: your nervous system in a state of fight or flight.
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  Speaker 1: It floods your body with cortisol and adrenaline, the stress hormones,
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  Speaker 1: and over time, it leads to burnout, paranoia, and emotional exhaustion.
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  Speaker 1: It also makes you more susceptible to manipulation. You snap,
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  Speaker 1: you get called names, you feel isolated, and the cycle repeats.
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  Speaker 1: You're surviving one crisis to the next. So how do
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  Speaker 1: you fight back? Not always by engaging more. You need
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  Speaker 1: to find balance so you can maintain your psychological fortress.
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  Speaker 1: The answer is definitely not about ignoring the world, but
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  Speaker 1: it is about controlling your exposure to it. So first,
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  Speaker 1: become the gatekeeper of your own mind. Set strict limits
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  Speaker 1: on news and social media. No more scrolling in bed.
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  Speaker 1: No more news alerts on your phone. Designate 15 minutes
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  Speaker 1: a day to catch up and then turn it off.
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  Speaker 1: Unfollow accounts that consistently make you feel angry or hopeless,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: because that's not helping. This is self-preservation, so that if
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  Speaker 1: you want to be a part of the change, you
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  Speaker 1: have the energy for it. Second, practice selective ignorance. You
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  Speaker 1: don't need to have an opinion on every single controversy.
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  Speaker 1: And even if you do, it's okay to sit some
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  Speaker 1: out and remind yourself that your piece is more important
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  Speaker 1: than winning an argument online.
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  Speaker 2: You are so not alone in feeling this way.
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  Speaker 1: And one of the most damaging effects of this turmoil
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  Speaker 1: is the feeling of isolation. But there are so many
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  Speaker 1: others who get it. Your next step is to find
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  Speaker 1: your lighthouse people. The friends, family, or online communities who
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  Speaker 1: share your values and your exhaustion. These are the people
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  Speaker 1: you can vent to without being judged. The goal isn't
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  Speaker 1: to create an echo chamber. It's to create a support chamber.
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  Speaker 1: A space where you can say, I'm so fed up
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  Speaker 1: I could scream, and someone will reply, me too.
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  Speaker 2: Let's talk about something else for a bit.
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  Speaker 1: You can't reason with every hate group or educate every
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  Speaker 1: fake activist.
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  Speaker 2: Trying to do so is a recipe for burnout.
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  Speaker 1: Instead... You've got to focus fiercely on your sphere of control.
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  Speaker 1: What can you actually influence today? It might be your
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  Speaker 1: own well-being. It might be your relationship with your family.
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  Speaker 1: It might be a local cause in your neighborhood. Channel
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  Speaker 1: your frustration away from the endless battles and toward tangible
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  Speaker 1: real-world actions.
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  Speaker 2: Volunteer for a charity. Go for a walk in nature.
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  Speaker 2: Cook a good meal.
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  Speaker 1: Create art these are not acts of surrender these are
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  Speaker 1: acts of defiance you're choosing to build and nurture in
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  Speaker 1: a world where too much of what we see is
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  Speaker 1: destruction we're not gonna pretend that everything's okay this is
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  Speaker 1: about acknowledging that things are not okay and then giving
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  Speaker 1: ourselves permission to protect our peace anyway we are setting
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  Speaker 1: boundaries finding our people and reclaiming our small corners of
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  Speaker 1: the world If you are struggling with the weight of
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: the world, you might find our video on signs you're
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  Speaker 1: experiencing vicarious trauma helpful. And for practical tips, watch How
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  Speaker 1: to Set Healthy Boundaries with Toxic People. Remember, it's okay
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  Speaker 1: to put yourself first sometimes. We'll see you in the
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  Speaker 1: next one. Until then, take care.