I used to be a high school tutor, and my students often got very distressed about grades, assignments, tests, etc.
This technique of thinking about the worst case scenario was really useful with them!
We would have completely ridiculous cascading future possibilities: I’ll get a D on this test, then I’ll fail, then I’ll work at McDonald’s… and actually, is it the worst thing in the world to work at McDonald’s? No.
By the time we reached the endpoint of whatever absurd chain of terrible consequences could come from getting a D on the test, we were usually laughing.
While Navalny’s is an extreme example of this technique, I agree it’s useful in everyday life. And maybe even more so, because our potential horrible consequences are usually not state sanctioned murder and death.
"And then, as I said, accept it (skipping the stages of denial, anger, and bargaining)."
Sorry, but this, to me, is Spiritual Bypassing - ie, sidestepping difficult emotions to get to (an
inauthentic) "acceptance."
While I agree with another commenter that the "worse that can happen" is an effective technique in everyday life (eg, test grades; other low-stakes decisions) - I mostly disagree with this sentiment in higher-stakes situations.
Our family lived in a forest for years, where wildfires were a real threat; in 2020, a wildfire destroyed our home and everything we owned. No amount of stoicism or visualization could have prepared us for the horror of when it actually happened, nor in the aftermath.
Now, four years later, I am the only one in our family who can talk openly with others about the wildfire because I went through PTSD therapy for a year, expunging and transmuting the "denial, anger, bargaining" so mentioned here. I've been able to participate in Listening Sessions - and my favorite 1:1 - with folks, helping to forward climate-change education efforts and understanding.
As we now know, trauma lives on in the body and our nervous systems - unless we intentionally work with it. Maybe this bypassing technique works for Navalny and other folks - but it wouldn't for me.
Would you be able to share what method your PTSD therapy involved? I am wondering which ones are effective. Yours clearly was since you are now able to participate in listening sessions around climate change. And yes, ‘the body keeps the score..’
Thank you for your question. My PTSD therapy was a combination of: Somatic Experiencing (SE); Internal Family Systems (IFS); EMDR; and regular talk therapy. While I still occasionally get triggered, I now have many tools to help manage my nervous system reactions. 💙
that's the essency of humankind: each indivudual has its own temperament, and reacts according this.
Navalny just explained the techniques he used, nothing more.
If these technique sounds like 'Spiritual Bypassing' to you, just go on, your own way. You don't need to apply the techniques of Navalny, stoics, Frankl and and other folks.
This technique was the way he choose to intentionally prevents trauma. Your find another way to deal with it, just go on.
I am indeed “going on”, thank you; no need to Mansplain this to me. Just because my way is different from this topic, doesn’t mean I’m going to censor myself here. My intention was to normalize choosing what works for each of us, as individuals.
The book is lying on my coffee table. I ordered it because I find him to be such an inspiring person and admire how he managed to keep his sense of humor somehow in the course of events. However, the results of this week’s elections have now made the book more relevant to my own life than ever. I will start reading it today as I think of all the veterans who served our country to give us the freedom to be a democracy. I pray we can protect it and the Constitution from being dismantled entirely.
I have Navalny's book on my Amazon Wish List and am going to read it soon. I have a lot of health anxiety, for good reason. I once read a book on techniques on lessoning these fears and it was as you describe...to imagine the worst, and in this case, detail by detail, loss by loss, write it down over and over until you reach acceptance, and then move on. I think this is a powerful technique. Thanks for this Chris.
We are all Alexei Navalny. Now held captive by a dictator in a supposedly free country. Few admit to voting for him. A lone truck owner takes victory laps with the Trump flag flailing in the rear bed around my town. Surely, those of us who do not flee to Canada understand the draw Navalny had to return to a country that perhaps only existed in his head? He is us. And we are him. We are all patriots. Was it the mandatory hand over heart as we recited the pledge of alliance in elementary school for eight consecutive years that cleaves us to this hallowed ground? Hold your loved ones close, pursue habits of lifelong learning and journal. May our cries for justice and peace and mercy to the universe be heard by a merciful creator. Amen.
Navalny also represented and led the movement of the Russian opposition for years. He knew he was responsible for others, and the movement at large. He isn't the first to sacrifice himself for a greater good.
I think it's hard to imagine specifically for Americans because we really are taught to be a "me first" individualist culture, and frankly, most people don't have the mental capacity to break out of that.
But it's nice you got a technique out of that to make yourself feel better.
I used to be a high school tutor, and my students often got very distressed about grades, assignments, tests, etc.
This technique of thinking about the worst case scenario was really useful with them!
We would have completely ridiculous cascading future possibilities: I’ll get a D on this test, then I’ll fail, then I’ll work at McDonald’s… and actually, is it the worst thing in the world to work at McDonald’s? No.
By the time we reached the endpoint of whatever absurd chain of terrible consequences could come from getting a D on the test, we were usually laughing.
While Navalny’s is an extreme example of this technique, I agree it’s useful in everyday life. And maybe even more so, because our potential horrible consequences are usually not state sanctioned murder and death.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
I currently teach English Language & writing skills to children and teens.
I think a lot about the pressure they feel to perform on multiple levels.
I will definitely use your wise suggestions with my students.
"And then, as I said, accept it (skipping the stages of denial, anger, and bargaining)."
Sorry, but this, to me, is Spiritual Bypassing - ie, sidestepping difficult emotions to get to (an
inauthentic) "acceptance."
While I agree with another commenter that the "worse that can happen" is an effective technique in everyday life (eg, test grades; other low-stakes decisions) - I mostly disagree with this sentiment in higher-stakes situations.
Our family lived in a forest for years, where wildfires were a real threat; in 2020, a wildfire destroyed our home and everything we owned. No amount of stoicism or visualization could have prepared us for the horror of when it actually happened, nor in the aftermath.
Now, four years later, I am the only one in our family who can talk openly with others about the wildfire because I went through PTSD therapy for a year, expunging and transmuting the "denial, anger, bargaining" so mentioned here. I've been able to participate in Listening Sessions - and my favorite 1:1 - with folks, helping to forward climate-change education efforts and understanding.
As we now know, trauma lives on in the body and our nervous systems - unless we intentionally work with it. Maybe this bypassing technique works for Navalny and other folks - but it wouldn't for me.
Thanks for sharing this perspective! I'm glad you're doing better after what sounds like a terrible (and very scary) experience. 💚
Thank you, Chris. I love that we can share our different perspectives on this page, with respect. 💙
Would you be able to share what method your PTSD therapy involved? I am wondering which ones are effective. Yours clearly was since you are now able to participate in listening sessions around climate change. And yes, ‘the body keeps the score..’
Thank you for your question. My PTSD therapy was a combination of: Somatic Experiencing (SE); Internal Family Systems (IFS); EMDR; and regular talk therapy. While I still occasionally get triggered, I now have many tools to help manage my nervous system reactions. 💙
that's the essency of humankind: each indivudual has its own temperament, and reacts according this.
Navalny just explained the techniques he used, nothing more.
If these technique sounds like 'Spiritual Bypassing' to you, just go on, your own way. You don't need to apply the techniques of Navalny, stoics, Frankl and and other folks.
This technique was the way he choose to intentionally prevents trauma. Your find another way to deal with it, just go on.
I am indeed “going on”, thank you; no need to Mansplain this to me. Just because my way is different from this topic, doesn’t mean I’m going to censor myself here. My intention was to normalize choosing what works for each of us, as individuals.
Thank you for reminding me I need to read this book!! What a badass human being! He will be remembered!
The book is lying on my coffee table. I ordered it because I find him to be such an inspiring person and admire how he managed to keep his sense of humor somehow in the course of events. However, the results of this week’s elections have now made the book more relevant to my own life than ever. I will start reading it today as I think of all the veterans who served our country to give us the freedom to be a democracy. I pray we can protect it and the Constitution from being dismantled entirely.
Thank you Chris. I really needed to read this today. ♥️ I will implement Navalny’s strategy soon. Thanks for a great column. ♥️
Thank you so much for writing this.
Since reading the excerpt in The New Yorker, I think about Navalny a lot.
Yesterday I wrote about his life and philosophy as a way and means to think and process the 2024 election results.
I want to read his book, too.
Would you share some of what you wrote here?
“I refuse to be caged,” you wrote.
I heard a recent radio interview with Yulia Navalny, the widow of Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in Russia in February 2024.
Yulia said Alexei viewed his horrible situation with a Zen-like levity.
Even when he was caged, he remained free in his own mind.
He remain committed to the ideals he fought for, and died defending.
May we aspire to live as Navalny did: infused with mental and spiritual freedom, despite any and all cages that might imprison us.
I have Navalny's book on my Amazon Wish List and am going to read it soon. I have a lot of health anxiety, for good reason. I once read a book on techniques on lessoning these fears and it was as you describe...to imagine the worst, and in this case, detail by detail, loss by loss, write it down over and over until you reach acceptance, and then move on. I think this is a powerful technique. Thanks for this Chris.
We are all Alexei Navalny. Now held captive by a dictator in a supposedly free country. Few admit to voting for him. A lone truck owner takes victory laps with the Trump flag flailing in the rear bed around my town. Surely, those of us who do not flee to Canada understand the draw Navalny had to return to a country that perhaps only existed in his head? He is us. And we are him. We are all patriots. Was it the mandatory hand over heart as we recited the pledge of alliance in elementary school for eight consecutive years that cleaves us to this hallowed ground? Hold your loved ones close, pursue habits of lifelong learning and journal. May our cries for justice and peace and mercy to the universe be heard by a merciful creator. Amen.
Thank you. In an age of often fake victimhood, Navalny sets it straight. A true hero.
Navalny also represented and led the movement of the Russian opposition for years. He knew he was responsible for others, and the movement at large. He isn't the first to sacrifice himself for a greater good.
I think it's hard to imagine specifically for Americans because we really are taught to be a "me first" individualist culture, and frankly, most people don't have the mental capacity to break out of that.
But it's nice you got a technique out of that to make yourself feel better.