I have suffered from anxiety since I was a child, which sometimes manifests itself in obsessive thoughts. I will be gripped by a sudden fear or worry and begin obsessively trying to “find” the solution. This often results in getting stuck in convoluted thought spirals that simply generate more questions. It’s a pie eating competition where the first prize is a bigger pie.

I am always tempted to try to get out of these spirals through reason. Part of me is convinced that if I could just get to the bottom of the spiral, I could resolve it and find closure and peace.

I had to learn to reject this temptation for several reasons. The first is that these thought spirals seem bottomless. Every time I think I’ve reached dry land, a new worry collapses it beneath me. Either way, I often get so lost that I don’t remember what triggered me in the first place; I’m just lost in a cycle of nebulous terror.

It took me a while to realize that engaging in thought spirals also made them stronger – as if I were exercising special mental muscles while telling my brain, “These spirals are extremely useful.” Keep them coming! » When you treat anxieties like they matter, it strengthens the part of your mind that finds them and fights them.

What this taught me is that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to stop focusing on it. “Don’t focus so hard on your problems that you fail to see the solution.” taught Brother Milton Camargo in 2023, first counselor in the Sunday School general presidency. Sometimes our problem is not the problem. Sometimes our problem is focusing on the problem.

This has never been more true than in our current political climate. While it’s true that we’re facing unprecedented circumstances in terms of candidates and policies, that doesn’t necessarily mean that focusing more on policy will make things better. “There is a strong argument that for many people, politics is a form of chronic stress,” says Brett Ford, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto who studies how political engagement affects our well-being. be emotional.

“For many people, politics is a form of chronic stress” – Brett Ford, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto.

The American Psychological Association recently reported that “nearly half of American adults say politics is a significant source of stress, citing problems such as lack of sleep, tantrums and obsessive thoughts.” Research by Professor Kevin Smith of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that “a significant proportion of Americans say that because of politics they are losing sleep, have damaged their social relationships, and cannot stop lending watch out for social media.”

We know the importance of being politically informed, but unfortunately, much of our political diet is empty calories. “If social science… is any indication, we probably know less than we think,” writes Walker Wright, who works in public policy. In a article 2020he presented evidence-based arguments for an American citizen with passionate opinions but little civic or political knowledge. For example, “a 2018 poll found that 67% of Americans cannot name the three branches of government. Another poll found that a significant minority (39%) of Americans think or are unsure whether low GDP is better for the country than high GDP.

Much like my anxious thought spirals, our political engagement often generates a lot of fear, but little actionable information. For many Americans, being politically informed simply means engaging in the emotional catharsis of extreme partisanship. And the more clicks we give to sources of emotionally charged partisan rhetoric, the more we tell them, “This is helpful. Keep it up.

This combination of high emotionality and low levels of information generated by political overconsumption probably makes our political situation worse. Encouraged by partisan clicks, the news media continues to undermine institutional trust by peddling outrage and activist journalism. Meanwhile, our political junk food leaves voters filled with fear and a sense of powerlessness, making them vulnerable to radical messages that promise to make the bad guys disappear in exchange for power.

My struggles with anxiety have shown me that sometimes I need to stop strengthening the mental muscles that fight and find anxiety, and instead engage in activities that strengthen those that find goodness and light. Not only does this help me escape pointless spirals, but it also allows me to better problem-solve rather than just ruminate on them.

I thought about this while reading the Mormon chapters of the Book of Mormon – the lowest point in the text’s narrative, with the first people, the Nephites and Lamanites, competing for the most depraved society. Even if the narrator has spared us the worst details, he gives us a privileged account of the fall of the Nephites, who first lost their justice, then their humanity and finally their lives.

It is therefore very significant that, even though his people are “swept away…like dew before the sun,” Mormon never describes the grievances that lead him to war. The Nephites and Lamanites did not become enemies overnight, and they likely hurt each other, individually and collectively, for many years.

But if Mormon wanted us to see the true causes of the Nephites’ destruction, perhaps he thought that meant omitting the resentments and injustices that had blinded his own people to what they had become. The Nephites were not destroyed by the Lamanites, but by pride and wrath, which ultimately consumed them with hatred toward God, the Lamanites, and themselves.

The Nephites were not destroyed by the Lamanites, but by pride and wrath which ultimately consumed them.

This is why I have come to see the emphasis Church leaders have placed on civility as a way to stay focused on solutions rather than problems. This is not to say that the political problems of our time are not real or important, just that we end up contributing to them when we become absorbed in them. To maintain a tender heart, even toward our political “enemies,” is to refuse Satan’s invitation to make politics a central source of meaning and identity. It is a choice to let ourselves be guided by what we love rather than what we fear.

Each political “camp” has already started repeat their victim narrative if they lost, it would ensure that the national conflict would persist long after the ballots were counted. You will be asked in the coming months to focus on anger and injustice. Carefully choose the spiritual and emotional muscles you want to strengthen.