Sometimes I Have to Look Away
Photo by Johannes Krupinski on Unsplash
If you believe the major rags and the headlines, everything is negative: wars, hatred, spiralling stock prices, climate catastrophe and so much more. I am in total disbelief about the trajectory of our own tiny slice of the world, in the UK, with our Labour Governments cuts in disability payments (I intend to get my soapbox out on that one, one of these weeks, so you’ve been warned!) and the arrests in a Quaker meeting house, which seem to have been largely about dissent. Seems you’re not allowed to disagree with anyone these days, especially the prevailing powers that be. Our rights to free speech and protest have been eroded by the previous administration and this one is doing nothing to improve the situation.
It’s all so depressing, not to mention worrying. I totally get why some people want to switch off and ignore it all. The state of the world can be overwhelming. I’m not a head-burier. I’m generally engaged and active, but sometimes it all gets too much. Feelings of ongoing anxiety and despair can ultimately lead to stress and depression and that’s no good for anyone long term.
Sometimes, I have to look away and switch off from the 24/7/365 bombardments of negativity which is our media. It’s information overload and both our brains and hearts get fatigued. It can be difficult to feel compassion when you’re hearing and seeing terrible things on a regular basis. Familiarity may not breed contempt for victims, but we’re being re-wired by graphic news features to be inured to violence, war and tragedy.
I don’t watch the news any more. If I want to actively find out what’s going on, I listen on the radio or read it online. When I was a kid we got news once a day, in the evening via the BBC or ITV news reports. We watched it and carried on. We did not have 24 hour exposure, we did not get updates to our phone for ‘breaking news’, we did not ‘doomscroll’ all hours of the day and night. There may be some advantages to instant communication, but there are many downsides for our mental health - we’re addicted to negativity and sensationalist reportage. It is, however, possible and potentially beneficial to do things differently.
Check out Byline Times for your news. Their tagline is ‘what the papers don’t say’. They run investigative local and national stories on a monthly basis and their have a sister network of online newspapers, which give a platform to local people.
Did you know there’s an outlet for positive news? Positive.News report what’s going right in the world. They claim to report socially relevant and uplifting stories of progress and publish daily online, a weekly newsletter and a quarterly magazine. Their reporting is more in-depth and has a social and moral compass. It’s a refreshing change.
According to the Good News Network, millions of people have turned to them as an antidote to the barrage of negativity in the mainstream media. They too have a daily news feature and a weekly podcast, as well as thousands of articles online. With over 25 years of broadcasting good news, they have a wealth of positivity to share.
If you must look at what passes for news, find a reliable source and only look once a day at a set time. You honestly don’t need to know what disasters have struck at 3am in the morning. If it concerns you personally, someone will no doubt be in touch. You can’t control what happens in the world and 24 hour exposure will not improve your ability to be useful, in fact, quite the opposite.
Be kind to yourself and make a positive decision to ‘look away’ from time to time. You’ll be better equipped to take in the salient information when you do look at current affairs and more able to respond emotionally.
The world is in bad shape, for lots of reasons, which we are all patently aware of. Isn’t it better to focus our energy on positive actions, to make the world a better place and to cultivate positive input and thoughts to encourage better mental health?
As always, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.
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Indeed, the constant bombardment is detrimental. I choose to let it pass; I have other things to fill my head. I am beginning to embody Timothy Leary, and dropping out.
Today that dropping out is a walk through the local cemetery, where all is peace.
It comes with age perhaps Debbie, our looking away. And it has long reached a saturation point of coverage.
Perhaps age increases fear. I was born in the era of the Cold War and the horror scenario of nuclear war. It didn't affect me as I knew nothing and my prefrontal cortex was yet to come online.
We now know too much or are fed too much; our life rucksacks are full and heavy. The disasters have always been there. They now arrive live. And we are old enough to imagine the consequences.
Getting older appears to mean shrinking our world to a best approximation of what we can personally stabilise and manage. The rest we must shut out while we make our later years comfortable, sticking with what we know and value.
Silence has become golden.