Political news is making me so crotchety

[Barb_]

How do you stay informed but still find joy?  Is there a way to balance it?  After 9/11 I became so anxious and depressed that I stopped keeping up with the news.  It agreed with me and I stuck my head in the sand for over a decade.  Recently I've decided it's imperative to become involved, but I feel myself sliding into despair again. 

 

Help?

[maize]

Maybe choose to catch up on the news just once a week, and plan something light and fun for afterwards?

[Carol in Cal.]

I mostly get my news from weekly periodicals.  That way it's a bit digested, and much of the 'If it bleeds, it leads' stuff is filtered out.

During an election season or a time of other tumultuous national or international news, I watch primary sources and then compare them to the periodicals to level set myself on their biases.

 

Since I have gotten more active online, it's been harder to hold to this, because so much information gets shoved at you there.  I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to deal with that.  Still figuring it out.
 

[Barb_]

Maybe choose to catch up on the news just once a week, and plan something light and fun for afterwards?

But then I may miss somthiiing..lol

 

Actually this isn't a terrible idea. Maybe twice a week.

[Barb_]

Since I have gotten more active online, it's been harder to hold to this, because so much information gets shoved at you there. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to deal with that. Still figuring it out.

 

I think this is my problem too.

[Barb_]

Balance consuming news with action ? Taking action makes me feel less despairing, although I hear you and I feel for you.

 

In some ways I can't wait to be old, because when I have nothing left to lose, I'm just going to go and chain myself to things. Forests getting cut down, CEO offices, the Prime Minister's house...and shout very loudly and get a lot of camera crews to come out and film granny getting things off her chest.

 

Because it does, globally, feel increasingly hopeless and increasingly difficult to be heard.

Maybe this is why I feel despairing. I'm pulled in so many directions that action feels almost impossible. I make a phone call here and there, I read so that I'm informed when I'm called on to engage, but is that enough? I'm still hip-deep in homeschooling, dealing with the administrative details of our burnt house, have one in school with all of the demands and requirements that entails, and my husband lives in another state half the year. I want to get involved, but there aren't enough hours in the day.

[Guest]

So, does your involvement have to be news related? Why can't it simply be something you are passionate about, rather than a reaction to what you're reading? I would try to separate the two. One doesn't need to read the news to be a productive member of society. You voted. It's done for a bit. Unless you plan on becoming a lobbyist, a member of a terrorism task force,  or calling your representatives 24/7 you can probably rest easy for a few months, and let some thing slide past. I'm not trying to sound patronizing, but rather, sometimes you have to ask "What difference does me knowing this actually make?" It's like whatever that adage is about that you can't cry enough tears over the sadness in the world. Certainly, you can spend 24/7 wallowing in others' miseries. But to what avail? Sometimes you have to pull back. 

 

That's what I would be asking here. What is reading the news actually doing for YOU? What is it making you do that you wouldn't otherwise? Likely what is important to you cause wise, will be important with or without AP/CNN/Fill in your channel. Does that make sense? If you KNOW it's making you crotchety, that's a sign. Bury your head in a worthy cause and find joy in it. You are officially absolved of being informed of the happenings of the world for a bit. :) 

[poppy]

Right there with you.  My husband is on a no news diet. Our Economist are gathering dust. It's just too grim.

[MaeFlowers]

I've been a news diet for about a month. I quit the current events board here, too. I just needed a break from it all. Sometimes walking away for a bit really helps.

 

TBH, I feel stupid for letting it get to me. I know I shouldn't but I'm just so frustrated by everything involved.

[minuway]

I don't go on facebook and tend to look to fringe or international news sources.

[regentrude]

I find it hard to find the balance between head-in-sand and consuming news to the point of feeling ill (not that that would take a large dose these days).

And I also feel that I don't even know where to start in the "doing" - it feels there are so many fires burning and I have a spoonful of water.

 

ETA: And a news diet would not even work - I'd have to stop talking to people to be oblivious of the disheartening news at state level. Too many things to be upset about.

Edited January 19, 2017 by regentrude

[regentrude]

I don't go on facebook and tend to look to fringe or international news sources.

 

The international media I follow regularly cover US politics in great detail - because it affects their countries, too.

[Peaceseeker]

I find that trying to stay informed makes me very depressed and anxious about the world. I wish there was a simple way to get major news stories without heavy bias that I could access once a week. My current method is to ask my husband to tell me when there is something I need to know. He is obsessed with the news so I figure I won't miss anything major that way. Every now and then I cave and cruise the news sites, but usually end up angry, crying, or depressed. Then I have to watch you tube videos of babies laughing or kittens or something as therapy. Staying informed is tricky for highly sensitive people.

 

I also wish there was a simple way to get only good news-happy and heartwarming stories of people helping others. I would visit one site and then the other. Then maybe I would not be in despair. Ok so lots of weeks I would just visit the good news site 😃

 

I know there are good people in the world doing good things. I meet them in real life. Their stories are rare blips among the other bleak and sad news stories. I try to focus on the fact that in my own community, there appear to be more good people than not. Hopefully that is the case elsewhere and things are just being skewed. If not I guess we are all doomed anyways and I am not sure how much it will help us to know that in advance.

 

When I don't read the news and just try to be the good I want to see in the world I feel much better about our chances.

[catz]

I am trying very hard to stick to politically neutral news sites and not the ones that jump on a possible piece of news before there is evidence of what is really going on.  I am really having a hard time with this too.  Taking some small actions that I can has helped a little.  I feel somewhat powerless to do a bunch right now given our phase of life.  Supporting meaningful non-profits even with tiny donations has been helpful too. 

[regentrude]

I try to focus on the fact that in my own community, there appear to be more good people than not. Hopefully that is the case elsewhere and things are just being skewed.

 

The people in my community and my state have by an overwhelming margin endorsed the events that make me depressed. That's not skewed - that is just the data.

Edited January 19, 2017 by regentrude

[CadenceSophia]

Lots of smart people actually say following the news makes us dumber. I go with that. Nassim Taleb is awesome in my book.

I let my husband be my filter. He tells me about anything important. Everything else I ignore.

[Barb_]

I find it hard to find the balance between head-in-sand and consuming news to the point of feeling ill (not that that would take a large dose these days).

And I also feel that I don't even know where to start in the "doing" - it feels there are so many fires burning and I have a spoonful of water.

 

ETA: And a news diet would not even work - I'd have to stop talking to people to be oblivious of the disheartening news at state level. Too many things to be upset about.

 

Yes, all of this.  You are voicing exactly what I'm feeling/thinking. 

[bibiche]

Here I try to counteract the awfulness by spending time outdoors. Doing some volunteer work and supporting certain organizations financially is making me feel less helpless as well. I agree that it is important to stay aware of what is going on, but if it is going to overwhelm you to the point that you won't be able to do anything you need to take a break and come back when you are stronger. Do you have like-minded friends or family? Maybe you can take turns being the vigilant one. Kinda like meerkats. :)

[Barb_]

The people in my community and my state have by an overwhelming margin endorsed the events that make me depressed. That's not skewed - that is just the data.

 

 

This too.  Factual events are depressing. 

[El...]

I find print news a lot less emotionally aggressive than videos, so papers, not TV.  Even radio is lighter than TV.  TV news is horrible for me.

[Barb_]

Here I try to counteract the awfulness by spending time outdoors. Doing some volunteer work and supporting certain organizations financially is making me feel less helpless as well. I agree that it is important to stay aware of what is going on, but if it is going to overwhelm you to the point that you won't be able to do anything you need to take a break and come back when you are stronger. Do you have like-minded friends or family? Maybe you can take turns being the vigilant one. Kinda like meerkats. :)

 

Hmm.  No.  That's a good point.  My kids are trying, but they're too young to really understand the significance of the events that are taking place.  I mean on the profound, intuitive level only achieved by life experience, KWIM?  My mom is dealing with her dying dad.  My dad and I are estranged.  My brother is sweet but skates on the surface, same with my dh.  I have a few friends IRL but we don't agree philosophically in a lot of areas.  So that could be contributing.  Thanks for that thought.

[Barb_]

I've been a news diet for about a month. I quit the current events board here, too. I just needed a break from it all. Sometimes walking away for a bit really helps.

 

TBH, I feel stupid for letting it get to me. I know I shouldn't but I'm just so frustrated by everything involved.

 

I did for about a month over the holidays.  It felt good.  My fitbit said my resting heartrate decreased about 6 points, lol.  Then I began reading headlines, then participating on the boards, and now I'm back where I began.

[Barb_]

Lots of smart people actually say following the news makes us dumber. I go with that. Nassim Taleb is awesome in my book.

I let my husband be my filter. He tells me about anything important. Everything else I ignore.

 

I...disagree.  I think a lot depends on the source of the news.  How many and which sources make a difference between the stimulation of critical thinking or the diminishing of critical thinking.

[bibiche]

Hmm. No. That's a good point. My kids are trying, but they're too young to really understand the significance of the events that are taking place. I mean on the profound, intuitive level only achieved by life experience, KWIM? My mom is dealing with her dying dad. My dad and I are estranged. My brother is sweet but skates on the surface, same with my dh. I have a few friends IRL but we don't agree philosophically in a lot of areas. So that could be contributing. Thanks for that thought.

I'm sorry.

How about we set up some meerkats in the social group?

[Barb_]

I find print news a lot less emotionally aggressive than videos, so papers, not TV.  Even radio is lighter than TV.  TV news is horrible for me.

 

I agree.  This is one way I'm handling it.  I don't do video at all.  Maybe a little NPR because I like discussion.  But most of my news is print.  That's one thing I learned from my 9/11 decade and a half news boycott :closedeyes:

[Barb_]

I'm sorry.

How about we set up some meerkats in the social group?

 

Embarrassed to miss the reference to meerkats.

[Pam in CT]

I find print news a lot less emotionally aggressive than videos, so papers, not TV.  Even radio is lighter than TV.  TV news is horrible for me.

 

 

Yeah, I can *only* handle print and NPR radio.  I mean, I read several print newspapers online, but only the articles, no video at.all.  I literally can feel my blood pressure rising when my husband has something on video going; I have to leave the room.

[bibiche]

Embarrassed to miss the reference to meerkats.

They take turns watching for predators. The alert meerkat warns the others (who are going about life) when danger is near. I was just thinking we might do something similar so we don't all have to be on high-alert all the time (though I find I am becoming almost addicted to being hyper alert) so certain members can take a break and gather themselves. Just an idea. If you can't do it in real life, maybe you can depend on your internet community. :)

[Barb_]

They take turns watching for predators. The alert meerkat warns the others (who are going about life) when danger is near. I was just thinking we might do something similar so we don't all have to be on high-alert all the time (though I find I am becoming almost addicted to being hyper alert) so certain members can take a break and gather themselves. Just an idea. If you can't do it in real life, maybe you can depend on your internet community. :)

 

Smiling at the idea of TWTMeerkats

[Pam in CT]

re meerkats

They take turns watching for predators. The alert meerkat warns the others (who are going about life) when danger is near. I was just thinking we might do something similar so we don't all have to be on high-alert all the time (though I find I am becoming almost addicted to being hyper alert) so certain members can take a break and gather themselves. Just an idea. If you can't do it in real life, maybe you can depend on your internet community. :)

 

 

Not to mention, super cute.  Just like, you know, us.

 

Meerkat watching video news

Meerkat standing on guard duty

 

 

[Barb_]

re meerkats

 

 

Not to mention, super cute.  Just like, you know, us.

 

Meerkat watching video news

Meerkat standing on guard duty

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Don't be lazy, people!  Go look at the meerkats watching video news on your behalf! They are so cute and also civic-minded.

[MaeFlowers]

I did for about a month over the holidays. It felt good. My fitbit said my resting heartrate decreased about 6 points, lol. Then I began reading headlines, then participating on the boards, and now I'm back where I began.

My dh bought me an off brand fit bit for Christmas. He did it because he knew that I didn't want to know my heart rate because I would get nutty about it. I might be a little bit of a hypochondriac...

 

One of the reasons I quit the news and the boards is because most of what I was reading was reactionary. People's emotions are so highly charged right now. Reading reactionary news and comments made me reactionary because I just don't handle those types of emotions well. Stacking emotions only escalates things. I'm waiting for things to quiet down a bit before I jump back in.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Reading is better than watching for me, too. Much better. For years now.

[Barb_]

Thanks for the ear, all.  I think I'm going to carve out time to start running again and make Wednesdays and Saturdays news days because a lot of news the rest of the week is rehash and wait.  I'm going to see how that works for a while.

 

{{{TWTM}}}

 

 

[Guest]

I find print news a lot less emotionally aggressive than videos, so papers, not TV. Even radio is lighter than TV. TV news is horrible for me.

Yes to this. Select print and podcast sourses help a lot.

[MercyA]

In some ways I can't wait to be old, because when I have nothing left to lose, I'm just going to go and chain myself to things. Forests getting cut down, CEO offices, the Prime Minister's house...and shout very loudly and get a lot of camera crews to come out and film granny getting things off her chest.

 

Like this lady?  :)

 

[MercyA]

Lots of tiny donations add up. Honestly, I have given as little as $3 to some things. It's better than giving nothing, and if lots of us give a little, it will help.

 

Yes! For giving small amounts (for free!), I really like SurveyMonkey Charity. You take surveys, and for each completed survey, they donate $0.50 to a charity that you select from the available options. I like Petfinder and charity: water. The donations adds up quickly! 

[Barb_]

Maybe without the gloves and hat, Mercy! Love it :)

Okay guys, it's a date. Let's see...in about 15 more years we should have a critical mass of members old enough to start a pissedoffgrandmas social group. We can meet up at various places and chain ourselves to things in protest until we're arrested, and then the rest of you young mamas can start a gofundme to bail us out, alert the media, and start viral twitter posts on our behalf.

[PollyOR]

My Dad watched news EVERY day that I can remember (I remember watching news about the Vietnam War with him while it was ongoing). He would make sure news was recorded and often watched two newscasts.  He is now 80 and recently stopped watching any news.  We are all in shock.

 

Once I no longer lived with my parents, I found it very depressing too.  For the past couple of years, my youngest and I have been watching CNN Student News (now titled CNN 10).  It gives me the basics without being terribly depressing.

[CadenceSophia]

I...disagree.  I think a lot depends on the source of the news.  How many and which sources make a difference between the stimulation of critical thinking or the diminishing of critical thinking.

You disagree that news makes you dumber or you disagree that there are smart people out there who believe that reading the news makes you dumber? :)

Nassim Taleb's assessments actually have nothing to do with sources and critical thinking, but rather that skimming through relatable and tragic events, no matter how you judge them, leaves you less able to make decisions based on statistical risk. I fully admit I am not avoiding the news because I am cultivating my high powered risk assessment skills, but because the stress and anxiety it induces makes me a less effective wife, mother, and human being. I just might as well feel smarter while I am doing it because I have some cool people with studies to back me up :)

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

[Guest]

I find that trying to stay informed makes me very depressed and anxious about the world. I wish there was a simple way to get major news stories without heavy bias that I could access once a week. My current method is to ask my husband to tell me when there is something I need to know. He is obsessed with the news so I figure I won't miss anything major that way. Every now and then I cave and cruise the news sites, but usually end up angry, crying, or depressed. Then I have to watch you tube videos of babies laughing or kittens or something as therapy. Staying informed is tricky for highly sensitive people.

 

I also wish there was a simple way to get only good news-happy and heartwarming stories of people helping others. I would visit one site and then the other. Then maybe I would not be in despair. Ok so lots of weeks I would just visit the good news site 😃

 

I know there are good people in the world doing good things. I meet them in real life. Their stories are rare blips among the other bleak and sad news stories. I try to focus on the fact that in my own community, there appear to be more good people than not. Hopefully that is the case elsewhere and things are just being skewed. If not I guess we are all doomed anyways and I am not sure how much it will help us to know that in advance.

 

When I don't read the news and just try to be the good I want to see in the world I feel much better about our chances.

There is. The Daily Good. You can have it come to your email Inbox every day. I recently unsubbed because I was cleaning and paring down email volume, but there were many awesome stories I read that helped me restore my faith in humanity.

[Barb_]

You disagree that news makes you dumber or you disagree that there are smart people out there who believe that reading the news makes you dumber? :)

Nassim Taleb's assessments actually have nothing to do with sources and critical thinking, but rather that skimming through relatable and tragic events, no matter how you judge them, leaves you less able to make decisions based on statistical risk. I fully admit I am not avoiding the news because I am cultivating my high powered risk assessment skills, but because the stress and anxiety it induces makes me a less effective wife, mother, and human being. I just might as well feel smarter while I am doing it because I have some cool people with studies to back me up :)

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

Haha! Fair question. I disagreed that news makes you dumber but your explanation makes sense. I don't watch news for those reasons, especially local news. It's the political news that I find terrifying, because statistically we're all in a lot of danger I think. And that is depressing and scary. Edited January 19, 2017 by Barb_

[Barb_]

My Dad watched news EVERY day that I can remember (I remember watching news about the Vietnam War with him while it was ongoing). He would make sure news was recorded and often watched two newscasts. He is now 80 and recently stopped watching any news. We are all in shock.

 

Once I no longer lived with my parents, I found it very depressing too. For the past couple of years, my youngest and I have been watching CNN Student News (now titled CNN 10). It gives me the basics without being terribly depressing.

I heard about that here and now my son watches it :) He really likes it a lot. I think they've changed the name to reach an audience of adults who may not pay a lot of attention to news otherwise.

[Barb_]

There is. The Daily Good. You can have it come to your email Inbox every day. I recently unsubbed because I was cleaning and paring down email volume, but there were many awesome stories I read that helped me restore my faith in humanity.

Thanks for this. I'm going to add it for a while, for balance.

[Pawz4me]

I'm a total news junkie. I can't begin to express how vehemently I disagree with The Guardian article.

 

But sometimes it does get to me and I have to take a step back for a few hours or a day. Sometimes even two.

 

What that looks like for me is limiting my news exposure to reading the one source I trust the most and find the least reactionary. And/or it may involve using the Politics social group here as my meerkat. I know I can rely on new threads there to alert me to anything really important. 

[BigMamaBird]

I only watch my Local news at lunch time.  It's a half hour newscast of local issues that actually impact me personally with a quick overview of the basics of the national news, weather, a man who gives a nice recipe and a cute animal available for adoption at the local Humane Society.  I figure that keeps me informed on the most important national stories without overwhelming me with whichever "the-sky-is-falling" bias is prevailing at the moment.  

[historically accurate]

There is. The Daily Good. You can have it come to your email Inbox every day. I recently unsubbed because I was cleaning and paring down email volume, but there were many awesome stories I read that helped me restore my faith in humanity.

My local newspaper also puts out a daily email that has a local interest "happy" story. Maybe other publications are doing that too. 

[Guest]

Also, if you just want an overview of what's going going on in the world, in a funny and modern, irreverant tone, sign up for The Daily Skimm. It comes weekdays to your email and gives you news highlights presented in a funny way. (For instance, about the inaugeration, they are calling it "going through the change".) There are also links to more of the story if you don't understand the briefing.

[Barb_]

Also, if you just want an overview of what's going going on in the world, in a funny and modern, irreverant tone, sign up for The Daily Skimm. It comes weekdays to your email and gives you news highlights presented in a funny way. (For instance, about the inaugeration, they are calling it "going through the change".) There are also links to more of the story if you don't understand the briefing.

Cool, I just signed up. Thanks for that!

[Serenade]

I wish there was a simple way to get major news stories without heavy bias

This would be really wonderful.