Today, we often encounter terms such as depression, negative thinking, overthinking, mental health, stress, and so on. Of course, this indicates that the quality of human life is feeling "threatened" and will lose its essence.

Based on data collected during the National Worry Survey, 63% of respondents said they felt "worried" about the life they are currently living. The definition of worry or anxiety itself is a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that is not known with certainty.

Quoting from the famous Stoic book, Philosophy of the Terrace, it is true that anxiety does not always come every day, but every time it comes suddenly, it can affect our daily lives both physically and mentally. For example, when we want to come forward for a presentation, we tend to constantly go to the bathroom. This can happen because the anxiety that we have triggers feelings of stress so that our body perceives stress which results in increased activity of the autonomic nerves (nerves that are responsible for organs that function independently without commands, such as the heart, lungs, bladder, etc.) thus causing us to constantly go to the bathroom.

So, how do we deal with these things (depression, anxiety, overthinking)? Stoicism is the answer

Stoicism itself is a school of Ancient Greek philosophy that has a view in which we must maintain a calm, rational mind, and not easily carried away by emotions. One of the things that is quite emphasized in this philosophy is the dichotomy of control in which we only have to focus on what we can control, such as our opinions, our goals in life, our desires, and let go of what we really cannot control such as the actions of other people. , opinions or perceptions of others, and so on.

Then, how does Stoicism deal with these things? To overcome all kinds of negative thoughts and feelings that we are currently experiencing. We can use this philosophical approach in the following way:

* Control your perception

In life, every event that occurs is a neutral and natural thing. In fact, what makes the incident seem bad is our own perception, for example when we are in a traffic jam, our perception seems to give a sign that traffic jam is an annoying thing, makes emotions, and so on. In fact, if we consciously want to change that perception, we can change things that initially look annoying to be fun. For example, we can have the perception that with traffic jams, we can use this time to talk more intimately with our partner, watch an educational and self-improvement video, listen to podcasts, and so on. With this kind of perception awareness, we can overcome bad things that will happen.

* Do the control dichotomy

The control dichotomy as explained above, we only need to focus on the things we can control and be "stupid" in the things we can't control. For example, let's say on our first date with someone we love. Instead of thinking about how our date thinks, how our date thinks about us, how our date feels about us, and other things we have no control over. We just need to focus on the things we can control, such as how we treat them, how we make them feel comfortable and safe, and so on. With this control dichotomy, we can reduce the burdens of thought that we should not think about.

* If you feel negative again, use the STAR method

STAR is a method or principle that exists in Stoicism itself. STAR itself stands for Stop, Think & Access, Respond. In the Stop step, as the name implies, we must stop for a moment so as not to dissolve in a negative emotion. In this case, we need to set boundaries so that we don't dissolve and fall too far in sadness. In the Think & Access step, we must objectively assess how these negative feelings or emotions are. At this step, it would be better to include facts and data so that the results of our assessment can be much better and unbiased. In the last step, which is Respond, we give a response to what we feel and the previous value which can be in the form of action, speech, or other forms.

The things that have been discussed above are the basic principles of the philosophy of Stoicism. Although in theory it looks easy and quite simple, in its own application it is not necessarily like that. Therefore, if we all apply these principles well, it is hoped that we will all be able to experience a better, calmer life, and many other positive things.