Stop following the news.

[R.F.]

I stopped watching or reading the news years ago because all it did was make me more pessimistic and hateful about the world and its people. The only time I read the news is in the dentist's waiting room, and even then I only read about the economy and the latest tech developments.

And that's enough. Seriously.

You don't need to read about current wars every day. You don't need to hear what Putin said or how China is threatening the world ever day. You don't need to discover new dooming facts on climate change, crime rates and other threats to mankind every day. You can just as well catch up with what the world is up to without seeing the worst case scenario on every page you turn.

It's a journalist's job to come up with headlines that catch people's attention, and it turns out that doomsday headlines and exaggerated implications work best for that. That's bullshit. Those things are happening all the time and it doesn't matter a single bit. Because most of the time it's things that you will never be able to have an impact on.

I'm not saying you should ignore terrible developments. But if you're struggling with making peace with the world around you, you can make an exception to this until you've gotten better. Disconnecting from stupid, exaggerated headlines and makebelieve experts preaching the end of the world is one of the best ways to improve your outlook on life.

 

[pompompurin]

I stopped watching or reading the news years ago because all it did was make me more pessimistic and hateful about the world and its people. The only time I read the news is in the dentist's waiting room, and even then I only read about the economy and the latest tech developments.

And that's enough. Seriously.

You don't need to read about current wars every day. You don't need to hear what Putin said or how China is threatening the world ever day. You don't need to discover new dooming facts on climate change, crime rates and other threats to mankind every day. You can just as well catch up with what the world is up to without seeing the worst case scenario on every page you turn.

It's a journalist's job to come up with headlines that catch people's attention, and it turns out that doomsday headlines and exaggerated implications work best for that. That's bullshit. Those things are happening all the time and it doesn't matter a single bit. Because most of the time it's things that you will never be able to have an impact on.

I'm not saying you should ignore terrible developments. But if you're struggling with making peace with the world around you, you can make an exception to this until you've gotten better. Disconnecting from stupid, exaggerated headlines and makebelieve experts preaching the end of the world is one of the best ways to improve your outlook on life.

This is what I've been saying to my family members for some time now and it's very nice to see someone sharing my opinion on this.

 

[Left]

It has the opposite effect on me; the news, although often filled with tragedy, helps take my mind off of my personal life and towards the world in general. I recognize the incentive for mass media to promote rage and fear bait in order to drive views; I keep this in mind and this understanding lessens the effect. I'm not a misanthrope, doomer, or pessimist despite being exposed to these things on a daily basis. More good things happen than bad things, but only the bad things catch our attention. You can work in customer service and encounter 90 normal/good customers out of 100 customers but those 10 bad customers will be the ones who capture your attention.

 

[WAITING TO DIE]

I look at the news for a few minutes a day but don't let it get me down.
Yet its often difficult to believe what is true anymore because there is usually a lot of misinformation and disinformation going round on mainstream news channels.

 

[Rapière]

You're probably right. We just live in such fateful decade (rise of the far right in europe, climate change, wars etc.) that it's hard to shake the feeling of having to bear witness to it all even when your hands and feet are tied behind your back.

 

[PAfb_640]

I've been trying to do this. But sometimes, my curiosity gets the better of me and I "relapse". And all I get after checking the news is depression all over again.

 

[ClownWorld2023]

Yup. Too much negativity in the news.

 

[NumbItAll]

Cosign. Our brains are not designed to handle a 24/7 influx of information. We are not equipped to solve every world problem all at once. It's obviously made worse by media companies presenting all the worst events in the most inflammatory way possible. Of course it is good to stay informed, but I find it's ideal to just check in occasionally without getting too emotionally invested.

 

[リンさん]

I feel you.

I'm from Russia (yes, I hate the country; yes, I would leave if I could; no, I don't support the war) and I learned quickly how a near constant flow of the news degrades your quality of life. You can't even do anything about it like 99.9% of the time, yet there's constant background of anxiety and panic. It's not healthy.

I wish it was easier to avoid though. So many things and forms of entertainment have been plagued by politics. But at least making an effort to not read and not doom scroll have definitely paid off, at least for me.