A few tips for news related anxiety

[Santaslittlemelter]

1. First of all, turn it off. The less you know the better you can get on with normal life.

1. Remember, thoughts become feelings. So keep your thoughts in a good direction.

1. Play wordle every day.

1. Find a new and soft topic box set to get into. Plan to watch from after kids in bed every night with tea and chocolate. Few suggestions

• virgin river
• Gilmore girls
• sweet magnolias
• firefly lane
• Emily in Paris
• love is blind
• Bridgerton
• Downton Abbey
• Ginny & Georgia

1. Remember that ruining your life with anxiety when nothing bad has happened yet is a massive waste of energy

I normally watch the news on a daily basis but have avoided it completely for the last week.
The best thing I have done is turn the news notifications off on my phone. I feel so much calmer.

I find I like to stay updated, but on my terms rather than having notifications going off/reading things on social media. 10 minutes ever other day to read the key events on the guardian is enough for me, and just news, no opinion pieces.

Reading speculation just sends me into a doom scroll.

I think a major thing like this can become all encompassing. It actually helped me a lot to sit myself down and remind myself of all the things I should be doing rather than looking up news!

I think nuclear war is preferable to watching Emily in Paris.

I think I would rather watch the news and listen to intelligent, informed debates about the situation and keep a careful eye on what's going on around me, thank you

I am avoiding the news, but it is the scaremongering hysteria on MN that is getting to me more.

Personally, I think following the news and knowing what is actually going on is helpful in terms of reducing any anxiety that I might feel about stuff. It's hard to avoid all references to what's going on in Ukraine, and knowing just a little might induce more fear than is actually warranted. For example, if I went by what I have seen on MN today instead of actually watching the news and ensuring that I am informed about what's going on, I could be forgiven for thinking that we're on the brink of nuclear armageddon. And that would result in a whole lot more angst than is proportionate to the current situation.

I'm not saying that everyone should watch the news. Simply that the advice to avoid watching it might not be the best strategy for everyone.

nothing bad has happened yet

It has. Just not to you.

@Daenerys77

nothing bad has happened yet

It has. Just not to you.

Yes, this is the actual point….you realise this is a post about dealing with individual anxiety.