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?

For anyone stressing about Strep A right now, I have two things to say (well maybe three).

1. Strep A is a mild infection in almost every case. Most kids will just need a course of penicillin. I say that as the parent of a child who did require hospitalisation and major surgery to survive a Strep A infection.

1. STOP USING UNNECESSARY ANTI-BACTERIAL PRODUCTS. You don't need to wipe your kitchen surfaces with antibac products. You don't need to wash your hands with antibacterial soap. You don't need it in your washing machine. By falling for the 'keep your family safe' advertising crap, you are putting your family at risk by helping the bacteria build up resistance to antibiotics.

1. Just stop reading and watching the news. Sometimes ignorance is best.

Re nuclear conflict. I found it really interesting. Everyone around me in uk was talking about it and some worried. My family in EE and inlaws outside europe were just "nah, not gonna happen".
People in uk seem to us generally way more anxious about everything. I wonder why that is tbh.

The picture is not great, and I think blaming 'the media' is just a way of minimising. Even if I never watch the news, climate change is real, the UK political picture is awful, we have very poor access to healthcare now and economically this is going to be one of the worst years on record.

Not every problem can be solved by hiding under the bed.

I accept there was no golden era and humans have always experienced problems, but my assessment is that just now the UK is in a bit of a pickle.

A few people were worried about but I don’t think it was anything like a national hysteria.

Ironically what’s instead happened is what zelensky warned about: the west’s attention span with Ukraine has petered out.

Look back over time and at other countries. Living in GB at this time in history we are very privileged. Yabu and wallowing in misery. Don't read the papers for a bit.

This. I've lived through AIDs, the IRA when just walking to work in London could get you blown up, 911, BSE, ds catching swine flu, ...

At any point in history, there is risk. Maybe you've just reached an age, or perhaps the fact that you now have children, makes you take it more seriously.

Stop wallowing, stop reading the news, focus on the good stuff.

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain that’s a great post. Actually this thread has ironically cheered me up. I was just discussing this with a pal yesterday and how I don’t care anymore. I felt guilty about not caring but actually, this thread has just reminded me that I’ve nothing to feel guilty about. There are greater people than me trying (and failing) to fix world problems that have been around since the Dawn of human existence. I can’t fix them so airing my opinion about them is pointless and only gets a backlash from someone somewhere. I’m just caring about my family and life around me. Doesn’t make me selfish but I’m not joining in the mass hysteria of having to have an opinion and worry about absolutely everything going on in the world. Our brains haven’t evolved to deal with that.

We can choose when and if we want to watch it. If having stressful news streamed at you all day long (via media, social media etc etc) is making you anxious, take control and stop looking at it.

I've stopped watching the news or reading newspapers etc. I feel much better for it!

@SleeplessInEngland Not just West. Everyone's. Always happens, doesn't it.

Re not reading news. I personally believe news are important to know BUT pick where. I found it gives me good balance to read different international and country newspapers.
So mix Bbc and Aljazeera and news from my native country, for example. Seema to balance out any dramatics

Am trying to do the same, great post.

Not for society but slightly for me personally because I just spent a lot of money on something (eek) and am regretting it. Oh well. Life is too short to dwell on worries.

The media causes it really. Covid was bad and I’d never deny that but for the vast majority of people it does not kill you yet to begin with the media made everyone think it was going to wipe the population a la plague. Strep A is still very, very rare and whilst tragic for the children and families involved, it still will not kill the vast majority of children who catch it.

There is a simple solution.
stop watching the news.

Neither was I - it was a statement around things been hyped in the media rather than an exaggeration. There was certainly a frenzy created, which caused ‘a lot ‘ of anxiety in ‘a lot’ of people

Look at the circle of control and influence. The more time and energy you devote to things you have little or no say in the more powerless you will feel and the more anxious you will become.

I try and focus my energies into things I can change which is both empowering and more worthwhile. Not spending much time reading or watching the news is a massive factor.

Also there's a contradiction in that we think that something is more likely to happen if we read about it in a newspaper, whereas in fact for most events it's less likely to happen because it's a vanishingly rare phenomenon, hence being more notable. So whale swims down Thames much more newsworthy than whale off the coast of Scotland.

"The media aren’t helping.
Is anyone else feeling the same?"
No I don't bother to watch the BBC or read the Guardian
My grandfathers were in a war for 5 years - that was stress
This is nothing

I heartened to see so many posts re impact of constant news cycle

It doesn’t need anyone’s attention but it does profit from getting everyone to react

You can be informed very easily without the fear nudges

There has never been a time when we have known so much and been fed 24hr bad news. It’s a wonder any of us are mentally well.

This sums up what I was trying to say.

Honestly? No I don’t feel like this in the slightest

The world has never been a perfect place to live, bad things have always happened. We've just not had the technology to hear about the bad things all of the time.

I honestly don't think we are having it worse than other other times.

Those living in this kind of constant state of fear, if you have children, please say that you’re not passing on this fear and anxiety to your children?

is it any wonder that so many children and teens are suffering if their growing up with parents with this approach to life.

Yep. I had a feeling of impending doom just before covid and I’m not sure that’s left me, apart from that brief summer when things went more normal. I feel in a constant state of anxiety.

Thanks to those people who like my post. I think we have to walk a fine line between reading the news and being informed (and if necessary having an opinion) and not becoming stressed and anxious via the sheer overload. I think someone once said that there's more information in one issue of the NY Times than most people in the 18c would have in their lifetime - we simply can't keep up and be informed on everything. Like we can't read every book, listen to every album, travel to every country - we have to decide what we can realistically do for our own peace of mind.

It's like lockdown when it seemed to be almost mandatory that you did something to improve your mind and occupy your time - learn Mandarin. Learn the guitar. Try new recipes. Watch boxsets. Listen to different music. What I saw called the tyranny of perpetual self improvement or Don't just sit there, why aren't you doing something?

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?

I deliberately didn't watch any broadcast news during the pandemic. When Prince Philip died I caught a snippet of news about people laying wreaths at Windsor and after 10 minutes I had to mute it because of the constant 'because of covid regulations/fear of covid' every other phrase - and people watched news like this for MONTHS. No wonder so many were out of their minds with fear.