I'm struggling with the news at the moment. Too much happening. Anybody else?

[YourVagesty]

I couldn't sleep last night thinking about what I would've done in the crocodile enclosure, what I would've do to the person who did it, what I'd do to the adoptive dad who murdered his son, how his son suffered etc etc.

On and on, on a loop. What do you do with the pain and the anger? Really struggling with the news at the moment and I don't even watch it, you can't avoid hearing and knowing.

What can we do to take care of ourselves and each other? Tips gratefully appreciated.

It is solid advice though. If you know that news stories have this effect on you, then just don't watch them. Instead watch Masterchef, or something mindless on catch-up. During the start of Covid my mental health was on the floor and I just didn;t watch any of it.

Actually I loved the 2 new presenters on Masterchef

it does feel relentless, and the constant feed of news does not help. I don't think we are meant to be attempting to digest it 24/7.

There is some helpful info here

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/coping-with-distressing-events-in-the-news/

I try to use this as a way to do better. Do better for my son (who is so precious and wanted), do better to others, do better to strangers. I feel the only way to combat hate is love. I know it is cheesy but at least I can do something!

I’m not being sarcastic or patronising at all when I say that CBT can help. It helped me enormously.

Terrible things have always happened and they always will. In many ways we’re safer and better off than any people in any other era. And yet people worry more - maybe because they have the luxury of time and no wars directly affecting them etc. Not to mention social media and rolling news. It’s really important to get a sense of perspective - and to not waste energy worrying about things outside your control. Focus on your own life and the people you love.

If there are things you can do to help your local community or others further afield then that’s great. But worrying about awful events around the country/ world achieves precisely nothing except chronic stress and misery. It certainly doesn’t help the people directly affected by tragedies. Some people get disordered thinking whereby they think worry loops will solve problems, and it doesn’t do them any good.

Me too! Was literally thinking these two stories are just utter nightmares. I think I need to stop looking at the news, really. I don’t even have social media but every morning I search BBC or Sky news and it’s all really dire. I guess the term ‘no news’ is good news in the sense that these horrific incidents ARE rare otherwise they wouldn’t make it to the headlines. That’s what I tell myself anyway …

I totally understand OP. I’ve tried telling my husband how I feel and - although he’s absolutely amazing and lovely! - he doesn’t get it. Not really. He is of the mind that these terrible things are not something he wants to ever dwell on so he just pops it out of his mind

now that’s great - but I can’t do that! I find I get a little bit down and anxious when I think about the details. That little baby. The little boy. The countless children beforehand. The children experiencing it now. The babies to come

I suppose it’s just ‘being human’ but I cannot understand why - in the case of Preston - why one of those creatures didn’t at any one point think ‘ god, this isn’t right’ as he was doing whatever the fuck he was doing

oh I dunno. It’s too much

Awful, awful things have always happened. Think about the dozens of baby skeletons under Roman brothels. I read a book on Georgian London's underbelly and it had some deeply shocking parts.
We just hear about it much more now.

My dh is the same too. No point dwelling on things is his mantra ( even when it’s his own family as well)
It must be nice to be like that , but it’s not easy.

To be fair I'm usually like that. Shake things off and keep moving, don't dwell, distance yourself because it isn't happening to you or someone you love etc.... But everyone has a limit or something that finagles it's way under your skin.

It's how the emergency services, medical types, the forces etc cope with terrible things every day, but one day something stops you in your tracks and you can't just keep going without seeking support or you'll fall into the bottom of a bottle of gin or worse.

I know longer watch or listen to the news. I do not care about politics anymore. I look after me and mine and be kind and respectful to those who deserve it. I do my best for the environment, but everything else is out of my hands, even though I always vote in elections. There is no value to it.

It is very difficult. Sometimes it's easy to feel consumed by the bad in the world, as if it's the main thing. There is undoubtedly a lot of evil in the world as we see in the news, but there is equally if not more good than bad, I think. That doesn't cancel out the awful stuff but it does remind you that for every 1 horrible person doing horrible things there are 100 good people trying their best, so overall things are good. It's why we get extra shocked when we hear the worst of the worst. Most normal people shouldn't even be able to comprehend some of the worst things that happen, it's only because of the media that we are aware of it.