Seven Ways to Reduce Stress in Anxious Times

Wine. Chocolate. Binge-watching “The Crown.”

How are your coping strategies working for you these days?

Therapists have, for months, been reporting a significant increase in clients who are stressed and saddened by current events—hurricanes, fires, the threat of nuclear war. In some cases, they say, these large-scale worries are undermining people’s ability to cope with their own private stressors.

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A study by researchers at Yale University and the University of Toronto, published in 2013 in the journal “Psychological Science, showed that people often misattribute the source of their anxiety. They think it is one thing when it really is another. As a result, they make bad decisions. An example: You almost get into a car accident on your way home from work, which leaves you sweaty and tense. Then when you get home you need to make an investment decision and are more conservative than you would normally be.

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): The Wall Street Journal