Seriously considering a temporary personal news 'blackout'

[Earlybird]

...everything seems so grim atm, whether the war(s), the economy, job losses/business closings, knife crime, child abuse stories, political corruption, crumbling infrastructure, etc etc etc.

I like to stay informed and current with world events, but it is all so relentless, heavy and depressing.

Anyone else feel the same?

i know, we can't even begin to imagine what horror these kids go through. a typical day to school is crossing the road not watching out for a car, but a rocket firing at the child. what a life. our kids here in the uk are so lucky, we have no idea how lucky we are. i try and remember that every day. i'm sure others here do the same.

I think it's ok to protect yourself from things that upset you - what is the point of spending precious time absorbing details of events that push your mood down?

the only balanced good news/bad news area I can think of is bbc 'science and environment', there is always something positive and interesting to read about/watch:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/default.stm

No, not watching the news doesn't mean it stops happening. Maybe some of the shit is happening to some of us watching the news. Maybe taking the option to not sit in front of it sinking further into depression means that there won't be more bad news.

Nothing wrong with taking a break now and then. My regards to those superhuman beings who can slog through the real life crap and take on board the troubles of the rest of the world too. I ain't one of you. Sorry for 'depressing' you with an acknowledgement of weakness.

I don't think its weak or wrong to want a news blackout. I feel the same from time to time.
It is important to know what is going on in the world but so much bad news and misery can overwhelm us.
Until a hundred years or so ago, we would only have been aware of limited bad news ie those affecting our own families and communities. Now we are aware of so much more.

News reporting has also become very graphic.

It doesn't surprise me that many people may not be mentally or emotionally capable of coping with it on a continual basis.

I think I need a bit of a break too.

Reading a paper, watching the news, and checking news stories online is very much an ingrained daily habit for me. A 'blackout', or even a big reduction, will necessitate a big change in personal habits - but maybe that is a good thing.

The news hasn't got any worse - there's just much more of it. We're bombarded with it.

I am addicted to news and can't imagine giving it up, but I must confess I have reached compassion fatigue with the Middle East as it has been raging for decades with no forward progress.

I'm sorry to say I simply tune out of news broadcasts featuring Israel/ Pali etc.

What annoys me is that the proliferation of media of all sorts: TV, magazines, whatever) means they have soooo much space to fill that we are just so bombarded by grimness. I remember the last recession very clearly and there wasn't nearly so much of the how to save money on your shopping/energy bills/what to do about your negative equity/just how bad it could possibly (maybe) get/how to dig yourself out of that enormous hole you appear to have fallen into. It just seems as if every magazine/newspaper I pick up and every time I turn on the TV it's someone blethering on about the bloody economy (and I speak as someone whose Dp has no job atm, not as someone who isn't affected by it)