I see the news and see things are getting worse. I have developed anxiety. Also I have WFH mandatory. I don't seem to be handling it very well. Do u have any tips and methods that help you.
Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
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Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#2Should you live in a country where that's still on the table and the weather isn't too shabby: if you enjoy that kind of thing, taking a walk in the woods can be pretty calming, leave your phone in the car, no risk of diseases or people there.
Other than that, if you're stuck at home don't use every minute of your WFH breaks to check the news, exponential growth doesn't imply that your situation changes every minute. Make sure to take that breaks in the first place. Maybe reach out to other people in the same situation and have a relaxed chat, just like you would in a non-pandemic cafe setting. Try to find normalcy, hyperfocus on bad news is seldom productive for one's mental stability.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#3I simply don't watch, listen or expose myself to any type of news (except HN). I've essentially blocked every single mainstream news outlet (TV, Press, Radio) on twitter, I'm not on facebook so I would suggest you suspend your account if you have one (but keep messenger if you use it), don't be tempted to google anything related to that "toilet paper virus".
This has two main benefits IMO:
1. you short circuit the mainstream media's agenda: provoke fear to generate clicks and keep your eyeballs stuck on the screen which means more revenue for them.
2. When you put yourself in situations of severe stress, you release that stress hormone (whose name I'm unable to recall) which can and will have a negative effect on your body putting you at even more risk of becoming ill. (this has happened to me earlier last year)
Last piece of advice: in your downtime, try to call your friends, family members if you're on your own, play video games with them online, have fun, watch comedy movies / shows etc ... Don't let this get to your head, that's how you beat the virus.
I say all this because in my area, the vibe and energy is so off and negative it feels like everytime I go out I'm about to meet to group of zombies ready to eat me alive (a la walking dead).
Just wash your hands, and the rest will fall into place. At this point there's not much one can do, people die everyday from countless numbers of illnesses and diseases, the world will move on eventually.
I don't know if it's a western thing or what, but it feels like people in this part of the world are craving for a catastrophic scenario like that to unfold so they can feel part of something greater than themselves, it's quite unsettling.
Oh, and also, use this time to re-evaluate your goals and aspirations in this life, because you've only got one. Apologize to the people you hurt and forgive those who've hurt you, make peace with yourself and smile to people when you see them, lift the atmosphere up a bit, because the media sure isn't going to do that.
Finally, as one meme I've found on the www yesterday so brilliantly put it: WW3 never happened and the Australia fires eventually stopped.
Sorry I went on a bit of rant, but I had to get this off my chest.
Cheers mate
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#4Corona is actually GOOD NEWS. I'm not kidding. What the world needs is a severe recession that stops flying, overconsumption, and overworking. The longer the recession lasts the better. It's the only thing that can effectively slow global warming. Climate change is a global threat, coronavirus could be a blessing in disguise.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#5I think what helps me the most is trying to focus as much as I can at what I can do and what's in area of my control.
For me, it's making sure I have followed the recommendations of health organisations in my country, making sure I get my work done and do what I do well every day, making sure I take care of my health, reaching out to my colleagues / friends if I need help or they need help.
But most of all, it's focus. I am training better focus via Headspace app and it's really helping.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#6Make happy events at home and celebrate them.
- Learned to bake my first loaf of bread from scratch. Wife and I celebrate by eating some of the bread together.
- Germinating my seeds in seed trays for the first time. Food stuffs like corn and bell pepper plants, in addition to flowers. Taking pictures every day as the corn and red cabbage sprouts.
- Playing with our dog extra, since he is depressed I'm home and ignore him for most of the morning and afternoon to WFH.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#7Corona is actually GOOD NEWS. I'm not kidding. What the world needs is a severe recession that stops flying, overconsumption, and overworking. The longer the recession lasts the better. It's the only thing that can effectively slow global warming. Climate change is a global threat, coronavirus could be a blessing in disguise.
If you were an alien on a spaceship watching us from orbit - sure. But once things start affecting you it just becomes grim reality. Personally I'm stressed as balls because my mum runs a few retail shops and if the situation doesn't improve rapidly she will literally face bankrupcy. It's hard for me to look at it and say "hey, it's great because it stops overconsumption!". And that's not even considering that she or anyone else I know might get ill and I won't be able to go home because all flights to my home country have been cancelled and the borders closed so even if I had to I have extremely limited options for getting home.
Like, I agree with you in principle - but as a human being, I think your opinion in extremely priviledged and something you can only say sitting behind a computer screen shielded from real life.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#8Corona is actually GOOD NEWS. I'm not kidding. What the world needs is a severe recession that stops flying, overconsumption, and overworking. The longer the recession lasts the better. It's the only thing that can effectively slow global warming. Climate change is a global threat, coronavirus could be a blessing in disguise.
If the last century has taught us anything, is that whatever comes after a severe recession is not something that one should be wishing for.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#9Corona is actually GOOD NEWS. I'm not kidding. What the world needs is a severe recession that stops flying, overconsumption, and overworking. The longer the recession lasts the better. It's the only thing that can effectively slow global warming. Climate change is a global threat, coronavirus could be a blessing in disguise.
That may be the good news, but the bad news is that a lot of people will run out of money for basic necessities like food and shelter. It might have been different if every country had evolved to allow people to survive economically during recessions with something like a basic income but that's generally not the case.
Re: Ask HN: How are you coping with all the (mostly bad) news around you?
#10I try to search for news myself, otherwise it will just feel that we are living the reality of one of those doomsday movies.
Which might be true, but going crazy won't fix it.