How do you cope with living in this depressing era

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Posting here for traffic.

I know the news is always negative and every decade has its bad moments but the 2020s seem particularly shit. I'm in my 30s and I can't remember ever living in such a depressing time like this.

Epstein files, rise of the far right globally, ICE, student debt, rising house prices, billionaire oligarchs controlling media and governments, climate change, the list goes on...

This is the world we have to live in right now. How do you deal with it and not despair? I guess limiting news consumption is an idea but isn't that just burying your head in the sand?

It feels like we're all in some kind of pressure cooker of hatred, divisikn and angst and its not healthy. A friend suffered a racist attack last week. It was caught on video and yhe perpetrator had 0 shame, he was like a man possessed. It's really shook me how emboldened ignorant racists have become thanks to the likes of Trump/ Reform etc

I have a "grab bag" ready for emergencies -(prepare for the worst then hope for the best) a wind up torch, key documents, face masks, hand sanitiser etc etc and i have always had an emergency store cupboard, learned this from my dad, with tins of fish, pot noodles, instant porridge bottled water etc - helps me not to worry - & btw gave me a great start when covid lock down struck - i didn't need to go shopping for a fortnight! I limit listening to news, don't watch t v or buy newspapers, dodge depressing stuff online as much as i can, no X, insta or tik tok. and spend time in nature as often as i can, feed birds and squirrels, walk, swim in my local pool, go to adult education classes, knit sew and crochet and do a bit of tai chi, weights and yoga on my own at home. And try not to get involved in things that don't directly affect me. Also write a "good things" journal before bed, anything good about the day. A robin in the garden, a really nice dinner, or a bit of winter sunshine - small positive things that help me to feel more cheerful.

I think it depends on what stage of life you are at during the various eras. The 1970s were my childhood years so fairly idillic. No one travelled abroad, in fact a lot of people didn’t go on holiday. We did the very middle class camping trips to the South West and had a family holiday home in the Lake District. But for my parents it was a different ball game.

Apart from a few years in the 80s, when I was a student so missed out, things were good. But then the financial crash in the early 90s put pay to the good times and it’s been a bit of a slog ever since.

Social media is the curse of modern society. The idea was good but in practice it’s populated by liars and thieves. Or attention seeking narcissists and hypochondriacs. Without social media they would have no audience. In real life the “misery mes” have no platform, but online they are validated and encouraged. They are quite entertaining at times though.

I think that the world is in a really bad place right now and I'm 60 so have lived through a lot. I cope by not watching the news and rarely using FB which is full of dis- and misinformation and a whole load of hate.
Focus on your own world, love the bits that are lovable and try and change any less good bits if it's in your power.

I don’t do social media or watch the news.

Burying my head in the sand? If other people think that, fine. I have no interest in what I can’t make a difference/ control in my life.

Works for me.

It's depressing, I agree. But I often think about how physically COMFORTABLE I am now. As a child it was always so cold (no double glazing or central heating or carpets), at school all the children smelt of damp and dirt, and outdoor toilets were quite normal. I am very grateful that I have lots of good food, heated blankets! and a dry house.

Maybe my bar is very low...

24 hour news cycle doesn't help. always on broadcasting means you have to find stuff to talk about. it's how you end up with rolling "news" coverage of a rumour that dolly parton might be dying. minor stuff gets blown up into big news.

apart from here i don't use social media. check bbc news and a couple of online newspapers for a quick read at start and end of day. everything else is talking to people, being out and about when not at work.

Is say this is the worst time I’ve lived through. Since Covid really everything seems to be rubbish. Did it make us more insular and selfish and it stems from that? Combined with insane world leaders and social media amplifying everything perhaps.
ive stopped watching or reading the news mostly and reduced my social media use a lot (MN is mostly it nowadays-and a touch of insta-it’s hard to give it all up I suppose). I work outside and even when I’m not at work I make sure to go out for a long walk. Started eating better and less processed foods. It’s helped to a degree.

The Internet amplifies stuff. You hear a disproportionate amount of news from America largely because we speak the same language so we can access it easily. ICE are not nice but there are far, far worse things going on in the world and always have been. Things that never pop up on your news feed. Step away from the news and you will feel better.

Everything is non stop these days, I agree it just isn’t healthy. I was a teenager in the 80’s, we didn’t have much but we were happy. Social media is mentally draining, I don’t use it, I have in the past but didn’t find it good for my well-being. Also, we had fab music in that decade, terrible hair and clothes, but we had a lot of innocent fun 🤩

I don’t watch the new. I read articles on bbc news so I’m informed but it’s not constant. I only follow my actual family and friends on facebook so really I’m just getting updates on their lives. Instagram I follow comedians and other funny people/pages. And I use Mumsnet, I don’t bother with the rest.

i read (fiction mostly), do puzzles, exercise, see my family and friends and enjoy life as much as I can. It’s not easy as I have chronic pain and a disabled child but I try to focus on the positives.

The answer is right there. Step away from SM.

God I was your age in the 00s and 90s and it was grim then too. There was an optimism when New Labour got in but it was short lived. Sexism and rampant misogyny dressed up as ‘laddishness’. Trashy tabloids harassing’celebs’ relentlessly. Widespread racism, sexism, homophobia. And plenty of government corruption and stupidity. BSE and Foot and mouth so badly handled by the government. Arms to Iraq and other corruption scandals. MP expenses. And the biggest of all - WMD, David Kelly, justifying involvement in the Iraq war. Totally damaged public trust in government. it’s quite amazing for me that Alistair Campbell is now on a leading podcast blathering on about erosion of public trust in government when he was one of the main causes of that back in the day!

Don’t watch the news.

The 80,s weren't great with mass unemployment ,Falklands war ,cold war and an ever present threat of nuclear war.

The problem is life has been too easy and too convenient for far too long. Less than a century ago there was a world war. Rationing didnt end for 9 years after so in the 1950s food was still rationed.

The cold war, the 70s economic crisis. Etc I wasnt alive in any of these but I do know my history.

People feel despondent and miserable as life is too easy. We live in one of the most stable periods in European and UK history with no war, or major hardship.

People are pissed off as they cant have everything they want when they want it. They feel they should be able to afford every material item they want mostly fueled by shite on social media. Keeping up with everyone else.

You dont need to doom scroll news and make yourself miserable. Less than 30 years ago you needed to buy a paper or watch the TV for that.

Just find something else to do with your lives than misery and wanting stuff. You know the price of everything and the value of nothing

I take offence at the 'old codger' ref. I am 61 and am full of the joys of spring. And I am definitely not old.

Op, life has been ever thus. I agree with all the other posts that mention social media. There's too much of it.

Exactly this. We were young parents in the early 70s and it was tough! Our housing was very basic, no indoor loo, no central heating, just a coal fire, no shower, no freezer, no automatic washer. We weren’t unusual for the time. Benefits were minimal, if you were working, there was nothing. No Child Benefit for first child til 1979.

Three day weeks, strikes, no childcare that would allow me to get permanent work, DH worked away a lot, so I temped when I could. We got out of that situation, but we never felt financially comfortable for years, mortgage rates were ridiculous at one point, and people lost their homes.

We’re long term retired now, not on a great income, but we are warm, well fed, and feel comfortable. A far cry from many old folk in the past! My focus these days is mainly on my family. My DH. Our Adult DC, their DPs, and teen DGC. I volunteer, I swim, I see friends, I feed the birds, and walk through the park. It’s enough.

I’m not religious, but I do try and remember the Serenity prayer when things are tough. ‘Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference’.

You can sign a contract, own a house, have a bank account, feed yourself and your children without reliance on men, have zero children or ten and however many you have it's likely all will live to adulthood. There's netflix instead of a couple of terrestrial channels. It's ok. Let's not take it for granted or anything but it's ok.

I barely read the news (ignorance really is bliss) and I try to be thankful for what I have not what I haven't. DD best friend was killed last summer at the age of 21 it certainly brings into perspective how short life is and how much we worry over things that really don't matter at all.

I also moved from my home City (large, run down and frankly not nice) to a place that I now love (it isn't an expensive part of the country either), I now get great joy in just being here and having so many lovely walks on my doorstep.

I think what my life would have been like in any other time period, or indeed what it would be like now if I'd been born in a lower income country and then on how lucky I am.

As a woman there are few places even now where I'd have as many rights and opportunities. My grandmothers were both born before the right to vote came in and lived for decades before they had the right to their own bank accounts.

As someone who is visually impaired my life is hugely improved by the advances in technology and rights, no more relying on a bus driver to remember I've asked to be told when we reach my bus stop, being able to navigate for myself, even my job I wouldn't be able to do without the adaptive tech I have access to.

If you are going to focus on the negatives about modern life maybe focus on what you can do to change things. I'm involved in supporting homeless work in my local area and campaigning work for the women in Afghanistan.

Because there are worse things than sad news days. I have advanced cancer. I’m grateful to have any days as I likely won’t live long enough to see when all this shit gets better. When you have more depressing things going on, you focus on what really matters to you and you tune out the static. On top of that, I’m politically active and I work to make change for the better rather than just freak out about it.

The 90s and 2000s were amazing. We genuinely didn’t realise how lucky it was and I absolutely would not have had my Children today I wouldn’t have brought them into this
I have a lot of guilt surrounding it

I do worry for my young DCs future. I feel like I scraped into a reasonable adult life by the skin of my teeth and with the economy and AI I'm worried my DC might not be able to pull it off. I see so many adults getting stuck these days and their parents not being able to do anything to help them.

And we didn’t have 24 hour news

I suppose maybe this is just how your 30s feel, I'm 36 and I just remember the 90's and 00's being especially good, even the 10's were great. Maybe it's COVID.