do you ever feel you are close to a nervous break down?

[blues90]

The more I read and the more I hear about the middle east and now Iran plus Israel .

Each day on the liberal talk shows there is more talk about the time the US attacks Iran and now all the people in the know on these talk shows are almost in complete agreement with this happening between feb and march . Yet I hear congress today talking about reps from US territories having certain rights being discussed .

Then you add in the US economy as it really stands . We all must know the reality is as scary as it can get .

There are the all the middle eastern names I can't come close to pronouncing .

Then last night was the SOTU last night , bush almost pushing Iran since he mentioned it a few times .

We have a bias press and then we find the real horrors and truth on the internet , with it's many sites .

I can't find any humor in any of this , not that there should be .

I can say all of this is making me a wreck at wits end .

[leftofthedial]

1. constantly for over two years now

[shadowknows69]

2. right there with you blues

and its really starting to affect all aspects of my life. I can barely function some days. Thanks to the fact we have no healt care getting any help is a pipe dream.

[orpupilofnature57]

3. Depression brought on by Anger and Frustration

Feel Robbed since 2000.

[cynatnite]

4. When it's getting to me like that...

I turn off the TV, take some time off away from DU for a little while and get out. It helps me not get too wrapped up in it. Then I can come back refreshed and feeling better.

[The2ndWheel]

24. So you're insane then?

You do something that doesn't help, then do something that does help, then go back to doing what didn't help.

It makes sense. We all do that, because we all live in an insane culture with a deathwish.

[jgraz]

I'd settle for "close to" rather than "in the middle of"

B*sh has gotta be the best promotion for anti-depressants ever.

[liberal renegade]

5. oh yes

since January 20th 2001 and it ain't getting any better.

[King Coal]

6. Being informed is a cross to bear.

[porphyrian]

7. Only for about six years now. - n/t

[KarenS]

8. I understand.

My greatest fantasy is: I wake up and it's all been a dream (make that ~ nightmare) and it is November 1, 2000.

[peace13]

12. It does feel like a dream! n/t

[bdamomma]

25. it's more like a nightmare, it is happening here by these

american thugs we have in office. We cannot control the weather but we sure as hell try to control them, didn't we do it November 7th?

[shadowknows69]

26. That would be cool

I would still be in radio and probably wouldn't have lost my job due to budget cut because the station lost so much money after 9/11 because Al Gore would have stopped it, or not caused it to happen.

[midnight]

9. So good to hear someone else say what I was thinking last

night after watching Bush go on and on about how fearful life is and will be if we don't stay in Iraq. His business about his healthcare ideas gives me a pain in my head. I was so discouraged after listening to him. Mr. Webb says the right thing but what isn't working and why. Who has the courage to listen to him. When he said that it would take the average worker all year to make what a CEO makes in one day I realized why things are so wrong. So in asnwer to your question, yes.

[peace13]

10. Yes.

Keep the faith. It comes in waves that are unpredictable. In the end I believe that it is better to be aware of the injustices, document them and try like hell to change what we can. I don't agree that it is beyond our power. I have had people tell me that being an activist will do no good, well what is the other choice? For me, there isn't enough beer in the world to make the pain of what this administration has done go away. Since that is my drug of choice I have to continue on down this path, hoping that we can make a difference and save this country for the young ones. I am sorry that you are down. I send you love and energy to get through the pain. Never give up. Peace on earth, Kim

[Cabcere]

11. Yes

I don't deal very well with stress (which really makes me wonder how I've survived two and a half years of college at a public Ivy so far), and the current state of world affairs is enough to worry anybody. :( Maybe the slogan should be "If you're not freaked out, you're not paying attention"...?

[blue cat]

13. I felt like that all the time

until recently after the dems took the majority. I have let go to concentrate on getting some ass for real. I'm looking for a liberal boyfriend.

[VOX]

14. Hell, yes, blues90. But having a breakdown beats being INSANE, which is what *they* are!

What you say is inescapably true -- the center cannot hold. What passes for journalism these days is tragic (since reporters should have long ago exposed these barbarians). Although constantly reminded that "we're at war," nevertheless everyday Americans are not being asked to sacrifice diddley -- except their daughters and sons. If you speak out against the administration, you risk being branded a traitor, or worse. It doesn't even resemble the country we grew up in.

However, there are signs, glimmers of hope that promise a possible return to sanity -- the consistent 70% polling against the Iraq mess; the Democrats gaining back the congress; even *Republicans* speaking out against escalation -- these are good emerging reasons to not give up the ship just yet.

Take a break from news and "politics" for a few days at least (more if possible), and do something you love to do, like biking, walking, road-tripping, reading fiction, watching silly old movies, etc. Do something nice for yourself, also.

Above all, know that you're not alone in feeling like you're at the end of your tether. Frankly, I'd be more worried if you *didn't* feel that way, because what your going through is a healthy, sensible reaction to all the insanity out there. Try to break away, get some distance and perspective on it, and re-enter the fray only when you feel less depleted. Your health and well-being come first. Hang in there, you'll make it! :toast:

[FiveGoodMen]

15. Constantly.

[stillcool]

16. Yes. It comes and goes..

and this is one of the low times for me. The inane chatter provided by the 'media', and expounded here on D.U. has a really bad affect on me. Time to take a break.

[AlCzervik]

17. not a breakdown but i really hate how cynical i've become. Granted i was never

a little ray of sunshine before Bush but it's gotten much worse over the past 6 years.

[ms liberty]

18. Every damn day...

The stress of the last six years is really taking its toll on me. I take breaks from politics and news on a regular basis, but it doesn't really help. I'm frightened, and angry. And I've been frightened and angry for so long that I don't know how it feels to not be. The one thing I have hung on to is my sense of humor - without it, I'd probably be dead of a stroke or a heart attack!

[burythehatchet]

19. Take comfort - you are not alone

[WillyT]

20. Constantly...

On the weekends I go up to the mountains, or down to the sea. Grooving with nature on the weekends is the only thing that makes the rest of the week tolerable.

It's also one big advantage of living in Sacramento. Hour and a half to Tahoe, hour and a half to Frisco. Oops... sorry, that's SAN Francisco, LOL!

Keep your chin up, blues 90. And remember, for us, "it ain't easy."

Pink Floyd: The Wall

All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really know you,
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand,
Some gather together in bands,
The bleeding hearts and artists,
Make their stand.
And when they’ve given you their all,
Some stagger and fall.
After all it’s not easy,
Banging your heart against some mad bugger’s wall.

Peace...

[Forrest Greene]

21. Not To Worry

It'll all be over in thirty years or so. For me, anyway. How old are you?

[blues90]

38. I'm 57 working on 58

It won;t be over soon enough for me .

Beside the world coming apart at the seams especially the US with the job situation and I don;t have a job now . Then I look at all the horrors in the middle east and I should feel lucky that I am not living there but this does not help , it only makes me sad and sick and guilty . I see photo's of troops with both legs blown off and I can't imagine how they go on or how they feel walking on manufactured limbs and all for nothing , perhaps some feel guilt over who they had to kill and this is how they cope . I have absolutely no idea .

I now have very little hope of ever getting out of my situation and then what about retirement days , I have nothing saved .

I look at people going to work and then I feel like nothing now , then I see all the millions of cars just on one freeway and this never stops all day long then I think what a world and how very foolish people are trying to go on with this mess of madness .

Man , global warming seems like an impossible thing to stop . Wars seem impossible to stop so we all reach the end one way or another , most hope it is quick however we go out .

[BluePatriot]

22. Sadly yes

But then I had to make myself step back from all of it to protect my health. If everything goes to hell then I need to enjoy my life while I can. It doesn't mean I can't stay involved. I try to stay involved so I can arm myself with knowledge to protect my family and friends, but getting too absorbed makes me a bad protector.

Hugs, and try to get off DU today for a while...sometimes it's good therapy!

[The2ndWheel]

23. We're a small scale species

Then we figured out agriculture, and here we are.

[shadowknows69]

27. I don't think agriculture was where we started to go wrong.

Gunpowder seems to be a more likely culprit at this point.

[The2ndWheel]

28. We don't have gunpowder without the time

agriculture gives us to specialize our society to the point where we can make gunpowder. Hell, our concept of time doesn't exist without agriculture.

Not saying there are no problems without agriculture. Name one problem we have today though, and it is either because of, or enhanced by, agriculture.

The great thing is that you couldn't get rid of agriculture if you wanted to, because to do so would be murder on a scale that would make you worse than every 20th century dictator, combined, multiplied by 12.

The only reason we're not all in a nuthouse is because we have pills to make it all go away. Which also wouldn't exist without agriculture.

[shadowknows69]

29. I don't use pills, I use pot

once again, agriculture.

[Raskolnik]

33. I do sorta like having enough to eat, though.

Name one problem we have today though, and it is either because of, or enhanced by, agriculture.

Isn't that kind of like saying that all of our problems are because of, or enhanced by, our ability to use language? Sure its true, but its a basic part of what makes us human beings.

[The2ndWheel]

34. Enough, or more than enough?

Not everyone went down the agriculture road. Obviously those who didn't had to be pushed aside because the result of agriculture is an ever expanding circle of power, which is how empires formed, and how slavery came to be.

Since I've this type of discussion before, I'm not saying any state of being is perfect. There are problems no matter what we do. Most of it comes down to scale.

"Isn't that kind of like saying that all of our problems are because of, or enhanced by, our ability to use language?"

Absolutely. As well as economics, technology, and any other sphere of life. They're all connected. We just keep making these problems bigger, because we never solve them. We just push them into the future, like death, which create new problems.

When we figure out how to cure death, and the need for food, and staying young but with the wisdom of age, and anything else that will make living life in a perfect state attainable, maybe it will all have been worth it. Of course we'll never know when to stop, since to do so would mean that we would be going backwards in terms of progress, and that can't happen, so we'll just keep going until we reach a destination that doesn't exist.

[Raskolnik]

35. If its a choice between an agricultural society or non-agricultural

I know for damn sure that I'd rather have the benefits of agriculture--chief among them the relative abundance of food.

[DixieBlue]

30. Off and on, but yes.

I have moments when I think I can get through this. Things will get better. And then something happens, I read of the deaths in Iraq or the latest global warming info and I fall apart again. The economic situation hasn't been kind to my extended family, either, so I constantly feel on the edge of a nice, long visit to a hospital somewhere.

[shadowknows69]

31. The only thing that keeps me going is my amazing wife

A woman who probably should have kicked my emotionally and physically broken ass to the curb years ago. I have not been the model husband at time and it is truly a special person that will stick by someone even when they may be undeserving of it. DU has helped me in no small measure as well and I thank you all for that.

[raccoon]

32. Yes. Take a break from all this. Read something entertaining

and not serious, such as a mystery, or whatever floats your boat. That helps me. Or watch a good comedy movie.

Some years ago a family member told me I read too much serious stuff, about empires and downward mobility and so on. She was right.

[ruiner4u]

36. Yes...

But only cause I quit drinking and have been ready to knock some heads on a few occasions...

Im having some mood swings, and I do feel for my family...:)

[Connonym]

37. yes, I do n/t

[mnhtnbb]

39. All the time. I have no patience for any frustrations. I'm so angry

at Bushco and the people who supported him these last six years
I can't see straight. I'm worried we're going to see WWIII started
before the next election. I'm worried that the economy is going
to tank. I'm worried...all the time. I don't sleep well.

My husband (a real-life shrink) says I'm depressed. He's goddamn right I'm depressed! Look at what's been done to this country!

In the meantime, we're getting ready to close on a house we've been building in Panama. It was to be an 'escape'hatch if everything went to hell in this country--but it's looking more and more every day like we'll retire permanently there after our son graduates high school in 2008. I don't want to move to Panama! I love Chapel Hill, where I live now. I don't want to give up on the country. But--given financial cirucumstances, we probably can't support two residences in retirement.

Maybe retiring to Panama is the right thing to do. Walk the beach. Snorkel. Read good books. Listen to music. Improve my Spanish-speaking skills. Make new friends. Find a way to contribute to the local community through volunteer work. And stop worrying about the future of the U.S.

But...my boys will probably still be in the U.S. There will be sadness
in not seeing them very often.