Current:Home > News5 strategies to help you cope with a nagging feeling of dread -VitalEdge Finance Pro
5 strategies to help you cope with a nagging feeling of dread
View
Date:2025-04-18 03:57:53
The list of things we dread is almost endless: the Sunday scaries, climate change, deadlines, the holidays, simple errands, you name it.
So how can we feel better when we're anticipating the worst? I'm Saleem Reshamwala, host of More Than a Feeling, a podcast on emotions from the meditation and mindfulness platform Ten Percent Happier, and we partnered with Life Kit to share five practices for managing that nagging feeling of impending doom.
We've been exploring this theme in a mini-series in Season 2 of our podcast. And we've learned that dread isn't all that bad. It turns out there are some benefits in starting an open conversation about the things that worry us. "The purpose of dread is to help prepare you," says psychologist Ali Mattu. "It's to help you think about what might happen. It's to help you take actions that you can right now."
We talked to researchers, art therapists and death doulas to find out how to dread ... better.
Rewrite your dread
We often struggle to talk about dread because it can feel so heavy. Poet and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan has a suggestion: Write down the things you're concerned about. She shares a journal prompt to help you emotionally distance from your dread.
Draw your dread
What happens when we express our dread without words? Art therapist Naomi Cohen-Thompson and meditation teacher and writer Jeff Warren explain why reframing our attitudes toward dread nonverbally can help us accept what scares us.
Find the joy in dreading ... death
Fear of death may be the ultimate type of dread we face, but clinical psychologist Rachel Menzies and death doula Alua Arthur say that facing death can be a joyful exercise. They make a compelling case for why remembering we will die – instead of trying to forget – can help us accept the inevitable.
Schedule your dread
This is how my dread works: I dread something. I try to avoid thinking about it. I fail. Before I know it, I've spent an entire day stuck in an endless loop of worry. Mattu shares some tips around this conundrum, including the benefits of carving out "worry time" to keep dread from becoming too overwhelming.
Notice your surroundings
After speaking with More Than a Feeling listeners, it became clear that one of the biggest issues they're worried about right now is the state of our planet. I spoke with therapist Patty Adams, who helped me understand how connecting to the environment can help us build emotional resilience -- so that even if we feel paralyzed by "eco-dread," as it's called, we don't stay there for too long.
You can find our miniseries The Dread Project in the More Than a Feeling podcast feed, wherever you listen.
The audio portion of this episode was produced by Jen Poyant. The digital story was edited by Malaka Gharib. We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.
Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.
veryGood! (397)
Related
- Big Lots store closures could exceed 300 nationwide, discount chain reveals in filing
- Embattled New York Community Bancorp announces $1B cash infusion
- Tesla's Giga Berlin plant in Germany shut down by suspected arson fire
- The Masked Singer Epically Pranks Host Nick Cannon With a Surprise A-List Reveal
- Audit: California risked millions in homelessness funds due to poor anti-fraud protections
- Kansas could soon make doctors ask patients why they want abortions and report the answers
- Missouri governor offers ‘deepest sympathy’ after reducing former Chiefs assistant’s DWI sentence
- Nebraska’s new law limiting abortion and trans healthcare is argued before the state Supreme Court
- Jury selection set for Monday for ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter
- Gangs in Haiti try to seize control of main airport as thousands escape prisons: Massacring people indiscriminately
Ranking
- Olympic disqualification of gold medal hopeful exposes 'dark side' of women's wrestling
- Princess Kate spotted in public for first time since abdominal surgery
- Alyssa Naeher makes 3 saves and scores in penalty shootout to lift USWNT over Canada
- Here's the Republican delegate count for the 2024 primaries so far
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Medical examiner says two Wisconsin inmates died of fentanyl overdose, stroke
- South Carolina Supreme Court to decide if new private school voucher program is legal
- Florida set to ban homeless from sleeping on public property
Recommendation
Jay Kanter, veteran Hollywood producer and Marlon Brando agent, dies at 97: Reports
Regulator partially reverses ruling that banned FKA twigs Calvin Klein ad in UK
Opening remarks, evidence next in manslaughter trial of Michigan school shooter’s dad
Patrick Mahomes' Wife Brittany Mahomes Fractures Her Back Amid Pelvic Floor Concerns
Small twin
Report: Peyton Manning, Omaha Productions 'pursuing' Bill Belichick for on-camera role
A timeline of restrictive laws that authorities have used to crack down on dissent in Putin’s Russia
Eric Church gives thousands of fans a literal piece of his Nashville bar