My anxiety is always heightened on the start of my menses. Everything else in life seems stressful. I know I can handle this, because I've handled this before. It just sucks that I ran out of Tylenol and am waiting for the new batch to arrive soon. I took a few chewable aspirin to help with some of the pains and discomfort. At least I'm not vertigo dizzy, and at least I'm still here and relatively okay (albeit disabled, but okay and still breathing).

It doesn't help when I read stories about how many people are still suffering from (a) long-haul Covid, (b) pandemic anxiety/stress/fatigue, (c) pandemic agoraphobia, (d) homelessness due to this pandemic, (e) evictions due to this pandemic, (f) underemployment or unemployment, (g) worsened mental health due to this pandemic, (h) worsened physical health due to this pandemic, (i) grief and loss issues increasing and lingering on, (j) medical trauma and/or anxiety, (k) financial troubles, (l) being a newfound orphan, (m) being estranged from family due to political divisions and/or this pandemic, (n) dealing with suicidal ideation for whatever reasons due to this pandemic, (o) losing relationships due to political divisions, (p) feeling betrayal trauma during this pandemic, (q) feeling hopeless - as if this pandemic and all the arguments involved will never end, (r) ongoing loneliness epidemic, (s) dealing with bad habits and/or addictions, (t) dealing with weight issues and/or eating disorders - which worsened during this pandemic, (u) experiencing racial trauma, (v) experiencing burnout at work or fears of being attacked at work if an essential or frontline worker, (w) feeling loss of trust in authority figures during this pandemic (e.g., the CDC, the FDA, the local government, the federal government, law enforcement, medical doctors, dentists, etc.), (x) feeling generally frustrated and/or angry about so many things we can't control during this pandemic, (y) dealing with escapism during this pandemic, and (z) dealing with sleep issues during this pandemic.

I've experienced multiple items from the A-Z list I created above (not in any particular order).

All of those items increase my anxiety.

Still, I read the news and empathize with the hurting - on all sides.

And then I try to limit the news, because there's only so much I can take.