> I'll keep it short but exposure to global news is making me more anxious and angry than ever and I'm finding it harder to escape. I realize this anxiety is irrational given there's nothing I can do about it, but telling me such platitudes doesn't help make it go away.
Ignoring the horror won't stop it. Burying your head in the sand will not make the existential dread go away. Feelings are indicators that something needs to change, and escapism (the literal word you used and betrayal of how what you're doing is etched into your mind) is not going to make the feeling go away. Instead it will become an even larger presence in your head. The act of escaping will give what you're running from even more power over your day to day feeling until you decide to suppress all of your emotions and become a complete shell of a person.
The escapism will fuel the atrocity. America is going through a coup. If everyone does what you do it will succeed. Life will get worse. Atrocities will be committed in your name with your tax dollars or against you. The message that you can't do anything is a major goal of their messaging. This will become a self fulfilling prophecy.
Avoidance doesn’t relieve dread. Reality will become even more overwhelming when it intrudes into your life. The dread will become even more ominous when you project your own beliefs onto other people, making the future feel absolutely hopeless. After all, if you're not doing anything because you think that's the most rational way to act, why would you think anyone else will act differently?
***You don’t get to opt out.*** The Nazi Germans largely did not get to opt out. Chinese didn't get to opt out of Mao's famine/great leap forward. Russians did not get to opt out of shock therapy/mass privatization leading to their oligarchy/mafia state. Russians didn't get to opt out of invading Ukraine. Ukranians can't opt out of being invaded.
Escapism is a feedback loop. The more you escape, the less you will be able to tolerate reality, which will drive further escapism.
If you want to feel better you have to feel like you are doing something. Go to a protest, learn to fire guns to protect yourself, engage with a local political organization. Learn a new skill to make yourself stronger. Do something in real life.
If you feel like you're by yourself, everyone else feels that way, too. Leading by the example of doing something is going to help your mental health more than escapism ever will.
Often times what matters less than solving the problem is working towards the problem, even at small levels.
> I have also recently liquidated my entire investment portfolio so that I don't need to keep up with news.
You should really consider diversifying your assets. A market crash and hyperinflation are both real possibilities.
Sorry if this message is exactly what you didn't want to hear. It was as much to myself as it was to you.