I'm talking from my own experience here. I'll also be talking out of my ass quite a bit, because I'm making up a theory on the spot from scraps in my mind.

Summary: Staring at the ceiling for 9 hours straight then then going in to work on 0 hours of sleep, then being scared that it can happen at any time FEELS like a catastrophe, but it's usually a "just" a very useful warning.

 

This post is for you if you've been drifting away from success in more than 1 area (career, women, social relationships , health). Notice the use of the word drifting; perhaps none of these areas are yet a catastrophe or even close to danger zone, but when a couple of them start accelerating in the wrong direction, your brain may start freaking the fuck out on you.

 

There is a good reason for your brain to freak out. You brain isn't retarded, and has a system for detecting when things are getting worse at a slightly faster pace than is normal. It sort of feels the "tipping point" getting closer, and needs to warn you, using mysterious anxiety loops that are disproportionate to the mildly dissatisfying present. Your brain is firing an alarm signal that is too strong for the nature of today's danger. But the loudess of of the alarm is right on the money for alerting you to the catastrophe of an un-optimized future.

 

I think that this system is the source of anxiety, sleep problems, and depression for people in their late 20s who don't have many responsibilities and are struggling to find their way.

These symptoms can feel overwhelming, making you too tired to barely function at work or in your social activities, amplifying the problem and making the spiral even worse. Oh well, we're not perfect. The brain would rather risk making your entire life worse for months or years by making you feel like garbage, ironically robbing you of the energy you need to change. Ha.

 

This is what makes this so deep. You should think about that. The brain would risk giving you severe mental illness and making you feel tired all the time on the off-chance that you'll turn the ship around and make the best out of the rest of your life. It's a high stakes game it's playing. Try to understand that system.

 

Solution. (?) You need to deeply write about your aims, IKIGAI, all that shit. Then, you have to design all the micro-habits that will get you there. And you have to figure out how to track this and always remember how important it is. And you need to keep yourself encouraged by making sure your goals provide some reward feels, and healthy, restorative downtime. And you need to somehow get rid of the fear that in the pursuit of your life goals you'll make big mistakes that will make things permanently worse. And, if your mental health is holding you back, you need to medicate, carefully and temporarily.

 

Not engaging always makes things permanently worse, because it robs you of the things you learn by making little (and sometimes big) mistakes. Without this learning, counter-intuitively, you'll feel like you need to take big risks more and more as you forgo taking little ones. For example, avoiding social interaction because it's uncomfortable , makes you eventually pedestalize your few positive social engagements and you take big risks (become a dangerous party animal on your 1 night out in the year, or feel terrible about 1 rejection). Think about avoiding risk as a trap that forces you to take risks out of ignorance or anxiety later, so it's lose-lose, don't avoid!

 

So, for those of you noticing a sudden spike in anxiety and insomnia, firstly get help, secondly understand that it might be a warning system that's freaking out telling you to turn your life around. Maybe you really do have the stamina to do great things on the long term and , maybe terrible things will not happen to you if you make your default ENGAGE & tweak & Monitor, rather than "Avoid, Self-preserve, ruminate".

 

This post has low-quality ending; maybe you guys can complete it with your BEST TIPS on how to turn REALLY KICKSTART turning things around when brain is sucking your energy dry. The very energy you need to fix the things your brain is freaking out about in the first place. Something more deep than "lift and take things 1 day at a time" because people really need to FEEL like they are improving with enough Velocity and acceleration -- to get a cycle going that is immune to dissenting voices debating the worthwhileness of any strong pursuits & weekly self-policing and self-rewarding.