Ukraine's Zelenskyy shows us how to handle fear in the midst of war

Several years ago I wrote about the "cycle of worry" in my book, "False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear."

The term means that whatever anxiety-provoking obsessive mindset you are stuck inside, it tends to perpetuate itself, built up by lack of sleep, lack of exercise, loss of diversionary activity, increased alcohol use, etc. 

It doesn’t matter – in terms of what you are feeling – whether the cycle of worry comes from excess fear of catching a virus or fear of an evolving war, as Dr. Judson Brewer, author of the important book "Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind," said to me on Doctor Radio Reports on SiriusXm this week.

And, Dr. Brewer added, it doesn’t matter whether this anxiety is something you personally experience or something stoked by social media, although clearly voyeuristic images of a war-torn country don’t have the same power as actually being there.