Dear Mr. Ritz:

“minimal interactions with people= minimal anxiety“- I don’t mean that you should neglect your wife and people you care for greatly.

Good to read that “money issues have moved to the background“, but I am not surprised at all that your and your wife’s anxiety were not resolved because of it.

“What I find strange is I didn’t have the feeling of fear, dread or other feelings you’d normally have when I heard the news. Very puzzled by that“-

– reads like you were not aware of “the feeling of fear, dread or other feelings”- this is what emotional repression is about:  not being aware of what we feel (unlike emotional suppression where we are aware of what we feel and intentionally put the effort to not express what we feel).

“Still looking for ways to calm myself without relying on drugs“- emotional expression is the logical answer: responsibly expressing our emotions through art (doesn’t need t be professional quality art!), drawing, writing, participating in a drama class, etc. Aerobic exercise serves t relieve the body from the stress that’s involved in emotional repression and suppression.

anita