To feel like we’re living in a state of constant fear lately?

[Silvercandycane]

Does anyone else feel like they’re living in a constant state of fear and panic lately?

We had covid and lockdown,, then the Ukraine war and the thread of nuclear attack and now it’s strep A killing children.

I’m on edge constantly and feel like I haven’t been able to fully relax in the past three years.

The media aren’t helping.

Is anyone else feeling the same?

They got the knack with Covid when one headline sent people spinning.

Not keen to give up that profit now.

Nope. The last few years been amazing. I don't watch the news though. In the last few years we bought a house so the fear of section 21 and moving as landlord wants more rent has gone and I had DD so the fear I never be a mum finally went after ten long years.

No, my anxiety levels are low to average, thanks to HRT I think. If my anxiety were high I'd avoid Ness, only consume positive media and try to get back to dusky meditation (10 mins daily calm via Calm app).

When I was 8 I walked alone to school next to a quite busy road and played out in the fields and never came to any harm. It was great. My brother and I would get home let ourselves into the house and when my parents went out for a night they would leave the 3 of us and a bowl of sweets each to look after ourselves until they got back at say 10.30.

I agree with this. I've been watching a lot of old sitcoms on Britbox lately and a lot of the issues we worry about today are discussed in the storylines from 30 years ago.

That being said, I think the 24hour news and the constant doom being churned out on a daily basis is definitely affecting peoples MH. The news has always pushed doom to an extent but since covid it seems to have dramatically increased. Did we need the death toll constantly displayed in the top corner of the news channel? probably not. Yes they have to inform but it goes beyond that - it's not just information anymore. Even the weather has constant danger warnings!

The news goes in cycles - so at the minute it's a constant stream of health crises; if there's a terror attack it'll be that for a few months - or if there's a murder of someone 'news-friendly' then they'll report every single murder that occurs for weeks after. These things are always happening, somewhere, but until the news focuses on it we live blissfully unaware of it.

Switch it off - don't let them steal your peace for ratings!

i dont worry about strep A, i have no dc under 20
i seem to be ok on the heating , my bills are ok
i can turn the news off
the weather and driving in it is my worry today, that and the shortage of tomatoes and whether or not i can get a turkey.
i could worry about A & E wait times but it doesnt affect me on a daily basis.
i do agree we can live in constant fear but currently i am not,
i was in 2020, particularly march 2020.

that was fear.

I get anxious when my car is in for its MOT. Not from the news when it's clear 90% of it is propaganda and fear mongering rubbish. Just stop giving it your attention.

I think we are going to readjust consumerist society to just buying what you need. The newspapers make money from clicks so they dramatise and incite strong emotions deliberately. I read newspapers from overseas that give neutral, factual descriptions, report news from ALL over the world and don’t have such an agenda. You would be amazed on how much world news is never reported in the UK.

Re stress, it’s important to prioritise staying calm, finding belief systems and enjoyable things to do regardless. Stress over the course of years leads to illness, bad decisions and catastrophising. That isn’t helpful. We can’t control what happens around us but we can control ourselves and our home environment.

Absolutely nothing to be scared of, but the media likes to create unnecessary panic. The pandemic tells us that, because it was not a serious illness, but Governments over-reacted to media pressure. History shows us that "bad stuff" has always happened - and often far worse than anything happening now.
If you find that you are unduly influenced then just stop watching TV news (which is all very dumbed down) and stay off social media.

What good has the government recently done that would pass the threshold of simply doing its elected job and thus merit a news story, yet wasn’t reported?

Absolutely nothing to be scared of, but the media likes to create unnecessary panic.

Cool, I guess everyone was just imagining the hiked food and energy prices.

It’s ok, poor people! Turns out you’ve got absolutely nothing to be scared of!

Err no. Life has always been a series of ups and down.

Get off social media, get off the news and consider something to reduce your anxiety.

Sadly it is down to the media. They operate on the basis of more readers/viewers the more adverts. The BBC feels it needs to compete in numbers alone.
this is why every head line is so dramatic and pessimistic (no one reads good news). The BBC news website had a large story this week that temperatures are going to be unseasonably cold....minus 6 in Scotland is not unseasonal.
We actually live in the safest time of all of human history. You are less likely to be murdered or die of starvation than at any other time in history

OP, the government have ‘nudge units’ and spin machines to literally manipulate how you think about stuff. It’s how they get everyone to accept bad policy and incompetence.

You’re not imagining it. You feeling this way is designed to happen by the government.

Make you believe Covid will kill you so stay at home, but the disease has a 99% survival rate. Make you believe that your energy bills will be a million pounds a year before hitting you with a four fold increase, but it’s not a million quid so they ‘saved’ you. Make you believe that nuclear Armageddon is a possibility so that they can carry on shoveling taxpayer’s money into private contractors ‘helping’ Ukraine.

It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s exactly the way it happens. Just so that people accept bad decisions and incompetence. It’s nothing new.

SM has changed the media to clicks and reactions and online comments

Best you can do is help your dc deal with it so they don’t get so impacted

And you were very, very lucky no harm came to you. Do you think child abduction only started 10 years ago?

Absolutely hate 'back in my day' posts on social media.

To the OP, I've been where you have..and as many people have aaid the key is avoiding the news.

If you can't do that just watch Newsround on CBBC for your fix.

Change your usual browsing habits to 'good news' websites or specific hobbies/ interests.

If I'm being harsh, stay off here as well because it is riddled with real life doom and gloom and can hack away at anyones resilience.

Seriously, it makes a huge difference and your mind will rebalance itself.

Back in my day we didn't have SM - just saying.... 😯

it is not just social media
but media in general
the news papers
the tv/radio news
over hyping
shock horror it is cold with snow showers!
who would have thought

If you’re around 30 or younger then yes the present time must seem scary. Any older and we have seen most of this crap or similar before. We ate simply, heated one room and wore warm closes and eiderdowns on beds to keep warm. Schools were freezing. Public transport was crap. We were at one point actually at war with our armed forces being killed in the Falkland conflict. The troubles in Ireland. Strikes a plenty. Power cuts were normal.

Margaret Thatcher

Dog crapped on pavements a plenty. Cars pumped out black smoke and were incredibly unreliable.people smoked EVERYWHERE including on planes. Football violence was scary. Everyday racism. And don’t get me started on sexism and the normalisation of female abuse.

The news was on tv once a day and you had to buy a newspaper to read it.

Some things were better and some worse. Being stressed or scared about any of it will never help.

Is uk more dangerous than the rest of europe that going alone out at 8 requires extra very before lucky?
Just curious because that has been and still is normal on mainland.

some people still read the papers and watch the news once a day, but they are still anxious
jeremy vine type shows on the radio ramping it up

i think media think we need excitement otherwise we are bored!

i was 15 or 16 with the Falklands War, my ddad was very serious about it, it meant nothing to me,
oh to be 15 again!

Media and social media hype things , for most people covid was nothing to be scared of but everyone was still terrified. Yes as others have said stay away from social media and the news

The thing I'm really worried about is climate change. That is an unprecedented crisis and we should be worried.

No, everyone wasn’t terrified. If you’re going to moan about exaggeration best not exaggerate yourself.

I did back in Feb/March. I could genuinely see nuclear conflict within days.

So I stopped watching the news, deleted the Sky News app and stopped browsing Reddit. Lo and behold, rational thought returned to me.