According to Kaiser Family Foundation research, the proportion of U.S. adults who said worry and stress linked to COVID-19 was negatively affecting their mental health rose from 32 percent in March 2020 to over half (53 percent) in July 2020, and as of March 2021 had dropped only to 47 percent.
When you find your eyes are clouded with fear and worry about something you have no power to control, you must become disciplined to control the one thing you do have control over-you.
Anxiety is a consequence for people who have no self-discipline. When you are not in control of yourself you allow others to control you. When you can't make a decision, others will tell you what to do. Unfortunately, those who take control when you give control away are not interested in your happiness or success but are only focused on their own selfish ambitions.
Self-discipline leads to self-confidence.
In a world where politics has become the focus of everything, does our political worldview contribute to our increased anxiety? In a 2016 article published by The Science Explorer, "a team of political scientists and neuroscientists got together to study how liberals and conservatives use different parts of the brain when making risky decisions." The author of the article collected findings offered by scientists interested in neuropolitics found, “Conservatism, apparently, helps to protect people against some of the natural difficulties of living,” says social psychologist Paul Nail of the University of Central Arkansas. “The fact is we don't live in a completely safe world. Things can and do go wrong. But if I can impose this order on it by my worldview, I can keep my anxiety to a manageable level.”
I am not a scientist, but I do study human behavior resulting from cognitive processing and I believe what we believe is first determined by our environment and that leads us to choose our political position. Not the other way around. I don't know of any preschooler who has a political leaning, but I do know they will behave according to their upbringing and their parent's influence.
I find that personality plays into anxiety as well. Those who are more emotional tend to feel the problems more deeply and have difficulty finding solutions that could make them feel better. The more intense the fear, the less likely they will be able to respond logically as the fight, flight,or freeze primal response portion of the brain is activated. People who are more logical and analytical in their cognitive processing tend to be less anxious and more proactive in finding solutions to their problems. Combining self-discipline with analytical responses may result in less stress, less anxiety, and fewer problems left unresolved. When we have clear eyes to see - the way becomes clearer.
"Like a city whose walls are broken through
is a person who lacks self-control."
Proverbs 25:28