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Expert shares ways to manage feelings on the chaos at the Capitol

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(KGTV) - From shock to anger, to distress. The video and images of mobs storming the U.S. Capital Wednesday evoked a range of emotions across the country.

Dr. Corey Gonzales is a licensed clinical psychologist. He says it's normal for people to be anxious after seeing or watching the events.

"When people look at D.C., that's our government, that's the mecca of the United States," Gonzales said, "to see that can be overrun so quickly, it's very scary for people."

He says it's also important to remember that everyone has been through a lot. Aside from political strife, people have been dealing with the pandemic, and some are dealing with financial uncertainty. He says these are issues that threaten people's security in one way or another.

"There's a lot of people receiving a lot of threats, so focus on what you can control, not what you can't control," he said.

Gonzales says it's important people take care of themselves when they are feeling anxious.

"We need to make sure we get plenty of sleep, exercise, meditate, that we talk about our feelings, and we need to do this stuff in dosages, as far as watching the media," he said. "We need to put it down, listen to music, watch movies, get some ground under ourselves, because if we spend too much time with this stuff, it's going to affect our nervous system, it's going to affect our quality of life."