The 10 Symptoms of “Hurry Sickness”
"PSST... YOU PROBABLY HAVE ANXIETY"
Usually, when someone reaches out to me for help with anxiety, the problem is clear: Panic attacks, difficulty breathing, chronic fears, sleeplessness… crippling stuff.
But more recently, I’ve found myself having to lovingly convince people: “You… do have anxiety.”
That’s because most of us operate out of an anxious normal. We are too stressed, too busy, too frazzled.
Spiritual writers over the past century, the fathers of the spiritual disciplines, and now psychologists & mental health professionals all agree about the speed of our lives — we are moving too fast, doing too much, and it is dramatically affecting our sense of the world (aka how we feel).
WE NOW EVEN HAVE A LABEL FOR THIS: “HURRY SICKNESS”
Here's one definition: “a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness”.
Here’s another: “a malaise in which a person feels chronically short of time and so tends to multi task to the point of forgetting one of the tasks”
You feeling this? 😅
THE TEN SYMPTOMS OF HURRY SICKNESS
So let’s take a quick inventory, using John Mark Comer’s “Ten Symptoms of Hurry Sickness”:
Irritability. You get mad, frustrated, or just annoyed too easily. Little things irk you. People have to tiptoe around your ongoing low-grade negativity, if not anger. For this, don’t look at how you treat a colleague or neighbor. Look at how you treat those closest to you—your spouse, children, roommate, etc.
Hypersensitivity. All it takes is a minor comment to hurt your feelings, a grumpy email to set you off, or a little turn of events to throw you into an emotional funk and ruin your day. Minor things quickly escalate to major emotional events… The point is, the ordinary problems of life this side of Eden have a disproportionate effect on your emotional well being and relational grace.
Restlessness. When you actually do try to slow down and rest, you can't relax. You give Sabbath a try and you hate it; you read Scripture but find it boring; you have quiet time with God but can't focus your mind; you go to bed early but toss and turn with anxiety; you watch TV but simultaneously check your phone (who’s with me); fold laundry but also answer your email.
Workaholism or just nonstop activity. You just don't know when to stop, or worse you can't stop. Your drugs of choice are accomplishment and accumulation. These could show up as careerism or just obsessive house-cleaning and errand-running. The result: You fall prey to sunset fatigue, where by days’ end you have nothing left to give to your spouse children or loved ones. They get the grouchy, curt, over-tired you and it's not pretty.
Emotional numbness. You just don't have the capacity to feel another's pain or your own pain for that matter. Empathy is a rare feeling for you. You just don't have the time for it. You live in this kind of constant feud.
Out of order priorities. You feel disconnected from your identity and calling. You're always getting sucked into the tyranny of the urgent, not the important… You’re busier than ever before yet still feel like you don't have time for what really matters to you most.
Lack of care for your body. You don't have time for the basics: eight hours of sleep a night, daily exercise, healthy home cooked food, minimal stimulants, margin. You gain weight, get sick many times a year, regularly wake up tired, don't sleep well, live off the four horsemen of the industrialized food apocalypse: caffeine, sugar, processed carbs, and alcohol.
Escapist behaviors. When we’re too tired to do what’s actually life giving for our souls, we each turn to our distraction of choice: over eating, over drinking, binge watching Netflix, browsing social media, surfing the web, looking at porn—name your preferred cultural narcotic.
Slippage of Spiritual Disciplines. (Don’t shame yourself here). If you're anything like me, when you get over-busy, the things that are truly life-giving for your soul are the first to go, rather than your first go-to. Such as a quiet time in the morning, scripture, prayer, Sabbath, worship on Sunday, a meal with people you care about, and so on. So, instead of a life with god we settle for life with Netflix and a glass of cheap red wine. A very poor substitute, not because time wasted on TV is The Great Satan, but because we rarely get done binge watching anything, or posting to social media, or over eating five guys burgers and fries, whatever, and feel awake and alive from the soul outward, rested, refreshed and ready for a new day.
Isolation. You feel disconnected from God, others, and your own soul. When you're with your friends, you're also on your phone or a million miles away in your mind, running down the to-do list.” (Comer, 2019)
WHAT DOES YOUR SCORE SAY?
Okay how did you score? 6, 7, 9? You’re not alone. But reject any shame you’re feeling right now. That’s not God’s heart toward you. “You are hidden with God, in Christ” (Co. 3). HIs posture toward you is not based on your performance. And That’s not why we’re doing this.
Instead, let’s agree: This is the new normal in the Western World. And we need help.
Anxiety is an alarm bell. It’s a god-designed warning system that something is wrong. What is yours telling you?
As we talk about depression and anxiety, there are SO many possible causes (biology, background & families, messages we tell ourselves, traumas, and often UNKNOWN reasons, meaning we may not find a causal link, etc.). But the most common ground where we grow anxiety is the pace, stress, and hurry of our lives. It’s structural. It’s our lifestyle.
HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR ANXIETY & “HURRY SICKNESS”:
If (like me) you resonate with this idea, there are some wonderful, life-giving resources to encourage you and give practical steps toward peace, slowing down, and reprioritizing:
THE RUTHLESS ELIMINATION OF HURRY BY JOHN MARC COMER
The Book ☝️
The Sermon Series by Bridgetown Church 😱
SABBATH: FINDING REST, RENEWAL, AND DELIGHT IN OUR BUSY LIVES BY WAYNE MEULLER
EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY BY PETE SCAZZERO