Published on 12, July, 2020
I am really struggling to deal with all the anxiety inducing stuff in the news. Every time I walk past a newsstand I have to turn my head the other way. If I ever see a headline I just meltdown. Yesterday I borrowed my wife's phone and a news update about Covid popped up while I was in the queue in Starbucks. I had a complete meltdown back in the car and nearly smashed my head on the dashboard. I started being scared of news during the endless Brexit debates, where everyone just seemed to hate each other, but Covid has made this explode like a mushroom cloud. I cannot cope with seeing Covid news but I also cant cope with the uncertainty of not knowing it.
What I would really like to know is does anyone on here have any coping techniques for dealing with news and media and stuff like this? Please share anything that works for you as it might be useful for me
( Just to be clear, pleas dont have any debates about Covid, Brexit or anything else, thats not what Im interested in, just needed some coping techniques)Thanks
My friend who has anxiety gave me good advice "just concentrate on your own world" ie family job home. The world is so big/small these days...we weren't connected 24/7 30 years ago. ..not even 20. Go cold turkey. Don't look at any news for a few days and it breaks the habit. If theres anything really important, you'll find out anyway somehow. A lot of it is the media trying to sell you stories. We have constant breaking news...that only used to be reserved for imporant events...it's all about political point scoring and a lot of the info is surplus to what we need to know. Cold turkey!
Concentrate on your own world, I like that.
Its like the world outside might be dark but your world can still be light and colourful, thats how I try to think of it
Also, I think the news apps websites have got you because often the news is different each time you check. It's the same with social media. I saw on tv once they were likening social media to gambling. You win some, you lose some (you get an update, you don't get an update) and its this which keeps you addicted. If it was win everytime we might lose interest. I think it's the same with the news. So what did I do. I ended up coming on here more as a substitute....
Haha so true. You are the second person I know who has observed that breaking news happens 24/7. Growing up when breaking news happened one held ones breath. Now 'the nachos you had at the bar last night' are breaking fxxking news.
It started to go wrong when moronic TV shows were making the the front pages, all was lost from that time. Hmm, maybe not lost as long as people like us live in our world.