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I keep vaguely informed. But watching it 24/7 is unhealthy.
Know what’s going on, but don’t obsess over it. Because, as you rightly state, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. Why get upset over stuff you can’t control?
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Submitted 9 months ago by throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
jimrob4@midwest.social 9 months ago
kepix@lemmy.world 9 months ago
you look at the news where LA citizens fight against the orange clown, and read about ukranian soldiers bombing putler’s planes and your conclusion is “boohoo i cant do anything”?
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 9 months ago
There are lots of options in between. You should be broadly aware of news, but do not need to be constantly exposed to them.
Maybe this article stallman.org/articles/dont-watch-covid-tv.html will help you, I am not sure whether I agree with all details of it, but the author is right about many other important things, so maybe it helps you.
devolution@lemmy.world 9 months ago
To an extent. You need to keep an ear out but if you let it, it will make you miserable.
Acamon@lemmy.world 9 months ago
This is something that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. I think there’s a danger to doomscrolling and upsetting yourself about things you can’t change, and it can be really unhealthy. But there’s also a real danger from turning away from the bad things that happen. And in my experience, the people who know least about the world, who “don’t follow politics”, etc are often the people responsible for the problems.
Although wallowing in tragedy doesn’t help anyone, being aware that bad things happen and doing what you can in real life to make the world a better place is important. But the moderation is important - getting upset doesn’t help anyone. So I try to limit my time with current affairs to specific times reading articles and reports, so I can learn about the world in a calm way. Rather than the drip drip anxiety provoking chaos of 24 hour news and social media.
andrewta@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The difference is back then you’d only have news for example in the evening. It wasn’t going to be 24 hours a day seven days a week.
nick@midwest.social 9 months ago
It’s probably not healthy but it’s what I’m doing.
It’s either that or depression and 😯🔫
MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world 9 months ago
These are dark times, and it certainly feels like doing anything on your own is hopeless.
Which is a line of thinking that the bad guys love to hear.
What the bad guys cannot stand or tolerate, is solidarity. The truth of the matter is that the bad guys are badly outnumbered, which is why they act forcefully; they need the populace to to be docile.
You don’t need to be a foot soldier to help. You can resist in all sorts of ways. A constant supply of passive aggressive acts from all directions can be incredibly effective way of degrading the morale of fascists.
the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Sometimes it feels that way, everything going on right now around the world seems to be the worst possible thing, and in the grand scheme of things you as an individual can’t do anything about it. However we as a collective can. Take some time for your mental health and then find a way you can help make real change. Just not becoming complacent is a good start, and I’m sure many people would be willing to help you take the next step when ever you figure out what your next step is.
starlinguk@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I know someone like this. She votes Trump because she genuinely doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on. Her family has always voted R so she continues to do so.
SolOrion@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
I just limit how much news I get- basically just what pops up in my lemmy feed and a news show I watch a few times a week.
Being exposed to awful headlines 24/7 is almost definitely going to be rough on your mental health.
radix@lemmy.world 9 months ago
You can handle what you can handle, and trying to drink from the firehose will only burn you out. Be as active in your community as you can, when you can, then take a break when you need to. Your own mental health matters, too.
CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The most important thing is to protect your mental health so you can function and be resilient.
Being informed on the chaos of the world is far behind that in the priority list. The radius you can impact is tiny compared to the rest of the world and the constant feed of atrocities you get hit with every day. And you don’t have unlimited attention to spend. Focus on what’s around you and making that better. The rest is, for the most part, noise that you have no control over whatsoever.
Nemo@midwest.social 9 months ago
The hell I can’t!
Sendpicsofsandwiches@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Last year after some family tragedy and living comoletely alone for the first time, I stopped watching the news (really TV entirely) and I gotta say I am generally happier. I won’t weigh in on “right” or “wrong” in a moral sense because at the end of the day that is pretty subjective. But I will say that it might be right for you, and that it definitely was for me. The world’s gonna do what it does and it will keep going whether or not I watch, so I may as well restrict my attention to the things I care about and can personally control. I’ve recently started occasionally updating myself but only in brief.
Lasherz12@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Going through this too, but I believe it is actionable, and things such as working with nonprofits and protesting the collapse in all of its forms is the way to relieve the guilt. I think stepping away hurts me more, personally, than devoting my time. It’s like making eye contact with a victim when I empathize with these massive movements, and tuning out is like lowering my head to break that eye contact.
Everyone is different and has different levels of mental anguish over all of this, so if you feel it is beyond what you can handle, then do not engage until you’re healthy enough to do so. It takes a lot of personal contentedness to be permanently there for other people and it’s not your fault if you aren’t there yet.
Opinionhaver@feddit.uk 9 months ago
Fascism won’t kill you. I hope you don’t actually believe that - and if you do, I’d genuinely recommend finding someone to talk to.
As for your question: yes and no. Yes, in the sense that you’re most likely consuming way too much news, which has undoubtedly contributed to feeling that way. But the false assumption you seem to be making is that if you stop reading the news, you’ll be completely oblivious to what’s going on around you. If you truly don’t want to know what’s happening in the world, you’d have to go live alone in the forest and never talk to anyone again. Otherwise, you’re going to hear about most things anyway - and if, by some miracle, you manage to entirely avoid hearing about something, it almost certainly wasn’t important in the first place.
No one is obligated to consume the news at the cost of their mental health. Reading the news doesn’t fix the world. “Staying informed” doesn’t fix the world. Talking about politics online doesn’t fix the world. If someone wants to do something about it, then do something about it.
cloudless@piefed.social 9 months ago
I emotionally withdraw myself from the politics. I do read the headlines and summaries but usually skip details that might upset myself.
MNByChoice@midwest.social 9 months ago
Strongly filter and limit the news you consumes. Do not spend hours watching or keeping up on it.
Do prepare yourself and your chosen community. Build relationships. Fix your life, body, finances. Get as ready as you can to catch yourself and those falling.
Do get into a group that tells you when local events are happening.
Do find joy.
MrFunkEdude@piefed.social 9 months ago
You can only do what you can when you can. When it's time too vote, vote. When it's time to help your community, help them. When it's time to lend your voice to the cause, then do so.
But most importantly, stay safe. Protect your loved ones. Do what's needed to keep them safe even if it means finding safety elsewhere. People have survived this kinds of political authoritarianism before. People have survived fascist regimes before. You can too.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 9 months ago
no
Resplendent606@piefed.social 9 months ago
I think the trick is finding a balance between ignoring it and keeping up with what is happening. Most of the National News is just reports of what terrible thing the White House is doing today. Those reports are unnecessary and time consuming. Don't give into the rage bait. A lot of this is easier said than done but try to find a balance.
njm1314@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Of course not.