The Rev. Michael Heath, of Fayetteville, is a licensed mental health counselor and a United Church of Christ minister.
The bombshell of Charlie Kirk’s assassination has exploded across the American political scene, creating a wide range of emotions and reactions. As the list of politically violent incidents grows, it is increasingly difficult for folks to process such tragic events and remain calm.
Without commenting on politics, I am concerned about the negative psychological impact these reports are having on people’s emotional stability, including that of our leaders.
This concern has been increased by the increased number of calls I have received from anxious folks troubled by the shocking details reported in the media. Many say that they feel overwhelmed by the nonstop coverage.
One might think that, given the increased frequency of such events, we would have become less affected by them, but this does not seem to be the case. Kirk’s death is especially poignant, given that it happened the day before the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Back then, I wrote about how the chaos of 9/11 affected our spiritual mourning and the foundations of faith. Today, I want to look at the emotional impact of unexpected horror and offer some tips, based on new research, that can help those who are struggling with anxiety and panic.
What happens when we panic
In the wake of shocking news, the animal part of our brain can put us into a fight or flight distress state. It releases stress hormones to prepare us to deal with an immediate threat. Unfortunately, this reaction can also slow or even block access to the rational part of our brain and thinking clearly becomes difficult.
In such situations, calming the panic is necessary to restore reasoning and rational responses. Without getting too technical, the deliberate use of cold water on the face activates the mammalian dive reflex, which can dramatically reduce panic and anxiety.
While not magic, this technique is effective. When used with other stress management techniques, folks can reduce the intensity and shorten the length of anxiety attacks brought on by disturbing news. Here’s a summary of these techniques and how they work together:
Stress self-monitoring. Given the difficult nature of our times, it’s a good idea to develop the habit of paying attention to how stressed you are. Rather than waiting for an attack to boil over, learn the early warning signals of tension in your body. There are many articles available on the internet to help you learn where your area of stress is located.
Identify and separate. When your body sounds the alarm that you are beginning to stress, stop whatever you are doing that is related to your upset. If you are talking with someone, end the conversation. If you are watching or listening to something on your phone, computer, or television, stop.
Here is where the splashing water comes in: Go to a faucet and splash cold water on your face for 30 seconds to a minute. This physical intervention interrupts the panic cycle and allows you to hit the reset button.
Change your breathing. Anxious breathing is rapid, shallow and not fully exhaled. Calming breathing is slower, deeper and fully exhaled. There are various techniques you can use, such as “box breathing.” After splashing water on your face and changing your breathing, you will start to feel better, usually within 10 minutes.
Non-demand neural activity. While you recover, meditate, listen to music or take a relaxed walk. These activities will turn off the release of stress hormones and bring things back to normal.
While these tips won’t make the world a better place, they will at least help you to maintain a rational perspective in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.
To prevent becoming overwhelmed, it’s also a good idea to limit your exposure to negative news reports. If the attacks persist, or if you have a history of anxiety and panic, it is a good idea to check with your doctor or therapist for more help.
What we can do now
Given the seriousness of our situation, we have to do more than just feel better. Our nation must make changes proactively to reduce the occurrence of senseless and tragic violence. Indeed, people of goodwill, including our leaders and influencers, must change the tone and language of their rhetoric.
People must learn to think before they speak or write. Unfiltered utterances not only corrupt the civility of political dialogue, but they also desensitize us to its inappropriateness.
Basically, most offensive rhetoric stems from either the speaker’s or blogger’s emotional dysregulation or their calculated ill intent. Sadly, there are folks who calmly and intentionally spread lies about vulnerable populations to instill fear, anger and bigotry, often under the umbrella of religion.
It is important to remember that while the First Amendment protects free speech, even uncivil speech, we ought to hold leaders and influencers to account for speaking irresponsibly.
Apart from dealing with the harmful speech, we need a broad-based public effort to educate. Frankly, techniques to soothe anxiety and stress are not just for those affected by horrific news. Leaders and podcasters need to employ such techniques proactively.
People who contribute to the public dialogue must learn a new sense of responsibility and understand the destructive power of their words. If people can learn to calm their emotions before speaking, we can reduce that incendiary rhetoric and the violence it foments.
Research shows that uncivilized speech has desensitized us to the horror of violence and contributed to its increase.
The challenges to reducing violence are immense, but we cannot give up. Hopefully, the death of Charlie Kirk will become a symbol and historic moment when both left and right say together, “Enough”, and restore civility to political discourse.