As to the last it's not necessarily true about the evil god being the cause of current anxiety. But it sounds neat.

It is an anxiety loop with the amygdala getting continously tweaked that unfortunately gets going in so many people eventually I think, perhaps. It might be related to "refusing" to the play The Game. This because just look at history, endless absurdities/atrocities; refusing to take part in The Game is a matter of morals.

But actually you're stuck playing it whether you like it or not, so it's a matter of just playing it well or very badly. If you accept The Game, I think you can probably handle the potentially anxiety causing stuff much, much better along with being far more likely to be wealthy and "successful".

And then what one can do is play it well right up to the point of seemingly "winning" and then stopping just short of the finish line... for some reason. What reason? You stop running right before you've "won" and find it so so hard to take another stride forward. Is it morals? Is it the "evil god"?

I reminded of Poe's The Scyth of Time; his manservant not being able to take the last step to the top floor of the clock tower. I was less conscious last I read that story. My interpretation back then though was similar to the above.