The impact of constant news of war

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
So, how to prevent anxiety and insomnia with all that is going on in the news about Israel?

I know I need to limit my exposure to it but I find myself compulsively reading or watching, being horrified and getting anxious. I am trying to distract myself, stay busy, tell myself I can't do anything about it. I just keep thinking how it will all escalate and the whole world will be dragged into this conflict.

For those of us prone to anxiety, panic attacks and deep depression, how do we prevent ourselves going downhill again?
 

Rose65 said:
So, how to prevent anxiety and insomnia with all that is going on in the news about Israel?

I know I need to limit my exposure to it but I find myself compulsively reading or watching, being horrified and getting anxious. I am trying to distract myself, stay busy, tell myself I can't do anything about it. I just keep thinking how it will all escalate and the whole world will be dragged into this conflict.

For those of us prone to anxiety, panic attacks and deep depression, how do we prevent ourselves going downhill again?
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The only way is to not engage with it. Don't read about it, don't watch it, don't discuss it with others. Let's face it, nothing is going to change just because we're looking. It may take a little self-control, but if it's affecting you, it's the right thing to do.

This applies to most things. We allow things into our heads. If it's making us unhappy, we can stop it. A little bit of self-protection.

When it comes to the Israel situation, there is a long thread, with lots of views on the forum. It's very popular it seems. Yet I've chosen to not visit it, to not share my views on what's happening, or to discuss events. There simply is no point. You can do the same. Good luck!
 
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I hear you @Rose65 it can really get to be disturbing. So much terrible news, and opinions about each side in conflict after conflict. Some of the images and stories are horrible beyond belief and on top of that I can't tell what has been faked and what is real.

I've backed away from those topics here and on other forum sites too. It nags at me that this might even be part of the goal, to hide things by making them too hard to look at. Even if you take most of it at face value, as true or reasonably close, popping your head up risks a punch in the teeth.

I'm starting to feel a little squeezed when I see the death report threads here too. So many people we've known through media... um, ok I'm not going to talk about it. It isn't the same thing anyway.

I'm just trying to avoid diving into these topics. Instead I'm making myself do things I can look back at and feel some accomplishment, no matter how small. When I can, I do something I can enjoy.

Sorry to be so useless. This hasn't been my best day either.
 

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I'll be the very last guy on the block to know why a bomb just landed on my house.

I simply cannot watch television, read newspapers, listen to radio...etc. This forum and my mental health site are the only two places I visit. My schizophrenic affliction dictates that I lead a pretty minimalist existence.
 
You guys do realize that you've created another thread about the war, right? Seems odd for something that you're trying to avoid but who am I to say? I'll answer that, nobody. If it helps to have this thread then I say go for it.

I will say there are a lot of topics here and a lot of TV channels and movies and music and books and other things in life that are not about war or current events. It's not that hard to avoid news for awhile if it helps.

Anyway, I'm sorry that it is upsetting and I hope you can tune it out. ❤️
 
Myrtle said:
You guys do realize that you've created another thread about the war, right? Seems odd for something that you're trying to avoid but who am I to say? I'll answer that, nobody. If it helps to have this thread then I say go for it.

I will say there are a lot of topics here and a lot of TV channels and movies and music and books and other things in life that are not about war or current events. It's not that hard to avoid news for awhile if it helps.

Anyway, I'm sorry that it is upsetting and I hope you can tune it out. ❤️
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This isn't a thread about the war, it's a thread about the detrimental effect following bad news stories has on an individual. ;)
 
The thing is, there are at least 2 wars going on at the moment. 12 if we include civil wars. Then about 50 or more other armed conflicts. Most of which the Western media seems to of ignored or forgotten about.

If the media can ignore them or most of them, or be selective in which conflicts they report, then we can ignore them on TV, radio, newspapers, and from our resident news reporters too. It doesn't actually seem that difficult to do.

If we want to know what's going on yet it is affecting some individuals when doing so, only the individual can decide what's the best for them. Switch off from it completely or limit the time spent on it. Just be careful of the media outlets and which ones you choose. As some can be as equally biased as social media.

It's possible to switch on to it or off from it as much as the next person might do.
 
Indeed. Don't let news media feed your mind. Have the self control to not contaminate and pollute your mind.

I too am one that does not feed my mind with news and articles about war. When the Ukraine war began I did spend a couple early months researching what that was about and posted some on this board to help others. But like all these wars since Viet Nam, have low confidence in what news media spews from their military industrial complex masters because such is a product of the dominant neoconservatives of both parties.

Likewise avoid selecting articles about US politics, especially all the constant presidential politics. Nor do I open up celebrity news and anything that is secksually visually baiting much less porn. But as someone that does use news aggregation sites like Google News and Yahoo News, I cannot avoid reading headlines. There are many apparently famous media personalities I only ever know from such headlines. Who are they? I don't care. Because I have been OTA for decades, also avoid having to watch all such news on cable channels except for a few days during winters when I stay at Tahoe lodging during ski seasons. And that includes all the many famous TV shows over decades that I haved long viewed as manipulative, progressive social engineering.

Due to neural plasticity, we are what we feed our minds with. Not only what we actually act on but also what we merely watch.
 
I think we can stay informed/educated, but not obsess over it. I've found that burying my head in the sand and heading off to Lala Land in oblivion often has me imaginging even worse scenarios. If left to my own imagination of what *may* be going on, I'd probably have WWIII raging already.

My advice would be to stay informed to the degree you're comfortable, but don't obsess.
 
CallMeKate said:
I think we can stay informed/educated, but not obsess over it. I've found that burying my head in the sand and heading off to Lala Land in oblivion often has me imaginging even worse scenarios. If left to my own imagination of what *may* be going on, I'd probably have WWIII raging already.

My advice would be to stay informed to the degree you're comfortable, but don't obsess.
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I think some can, but others would find staying informed on a topic can be problematic. Catastrophizing is really the issue you're trying to solve, so if you're still doing that I'd suggest you've not yet disengaged. The point of putting a distance between yourself an an event is to stop the rumination, imo.
 
VaughanJB said:
I think some can, but others would find staying informed on a topic can be problematic.
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True... but those who imagine worse things if they are uninformed/oblivious need to keep it under control by knowing the line between how much news info is good and what is too much. Catastrophizing works both ways... unplugging to some folks means WWIII is raging and it's time to batten down the hatches, as I mentioned. Staying informed means you know that's not a true fact and could actually be calming. I think @Rose65 knows what I was trying to say.
 
CallMeKate said:
True... but those who imagine worse things if they are uninformed/oblivious need to keep it under control by knowing the line between how much news info is good and what is too much. Catastrophizing works both ways... unplugging to some folks means WWIII is raging and it's time to batten down the hatches, as I mentioned. Staying informed means you know that's not a true fact and could actually be calming. I think @Rose65 knows what I was trying to say.
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I'm sure she does. For me, I'm aware that no matter what I think about a situation, no matter what I feel should happen, no matter the hurt or concern I need to express, in reality it means nothing, it has no value. The people involved are no better off for having me care, and nothing I will write will make a difference. In the mean time, there are flowers to be watered, dogs to be walked, and love to be given.

The one thing the war doesn't need is another victim, and that's what catastrophizing does, it allows the consequences to be part of you, even if you have reason to make it so. We can't truly imagine what it's like for the people involved.
 
I'm compelled to listen most of the day. My life began hearing and seeing neighbors, relatives, friends of family grieving over the Holocaust. Now, at the end of my life, here we go again. It's personal. There's no way I can't be involved. I was born involved in this, one of the themes of my existence.

Sitting in a Zurich cafe, when a guy, who later became a great friend, stands up drunkedly pointed to me and yelled "Juden." I don't know why I just thought of this. I guess I mean to say Jew/Israel has been inescapable.
 
Almost all the news I learn of, I learn from the titles of the posts from this site since I never watch the news. I don’t normally click those threads either. I’m focussed only on what’s 2 feet in front of me. . That’s all I’m willing to be concerned about. Call me selfish, I don’t care.
 
As for impact, constant war news across this way way overpopulated with Earth monkeys planet, points to eventual certain nuclear WWIII either by first strike attacks or accident that will destroy much of the life on this incredible, fragile blue water planet. Well 1) unless a CRISPR developed lethal virus plague is first unleashed by some desperate group, that eliminates most of us. Or 2) some "god" or UIE that considers Earth a galactic DNA organic zoo intervenes. Sad, but probabilities of continuing as we have like this with myriad different clashing independent governments, different cultures, different religions, different morals, is simply not going to last for dozens of years into our human civilization future, much less centuries.
 
Imagine somebody starting a mental health issues thread about anxiety caused by a phobia about clowns. The reaction thread comes after people started a clown thread and then doubled down by starting another thread vociferously promoting clowns, clowning, clown makeup, clown dolls, clown movies, blow by blow accounts of clowning as it happens, etc.

Then a clown fan jumps into the mental health thread just to do more clowning. Others jump in and tell the original poster to "stop looking at clowns then."

People can still post about clowns, the clown threads are still there. But dumping on those sensitive on the matter seems pretty rude.
 
VaughanJB said:
The only way is to not engage with it. Don't read about it, don't watch it, don't discuss it with others. Let's face it, nothing is going to change just because we're looking. It may take a little self-control, but if it's affecting you, it's the right thing to do.

This applies to most things. We allow things into our heads. If it's making us unhappy, we can stop it. A little bit of self-protection.

When it comes to the Israel situation, there is a long thread, with lots of views on the forum. It's very popular it seems. Yet I've chosen to not visit it, to not share my views on what's happening, or to discuss events. There simply is no point. You can do the same. Good luck!
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Excellent advice.

Safely tucked away in Australia, I am following events because I see history unfolding before me.
I am trying to understand it. If my grandchildren ask me questions, I hope to be able to give them informed answers.
 
I'm also a member of a political forum, so I tune in less to "what's happening" in the world and more into "why it's happening". I'm also interested in how situations in other countries may affect the US. As heartbreaking as the situation is in Israel and Palestine it has forced me to become better educated re: the politics and the history of the region. I think it's important to keep learning, regardless of age, as long as you watch reliable sources and filter out the nonsense.

We do try to watch Queer Eye on Netflix at the end of each night because it is actually funny and up-lifting. That ends my day with something positive.
 


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