'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle • Hacker News Board

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#41

Post by rayiner » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 2:50 AM UTC

creato wrote: post #23

I don't like the implication that mental health is just feeling good. Maybe if more people would read and understand the news, and feel bad about it , they'd be willing to do even trivial things like wear a mask. In my opinion, good mental health should be considered to be that your feelings align with reality. If reality sucks, it's not mentally unhealthy to feel bad about it. Feeling bad should spur making changes…

Half the people doomscrolling are sitting up worried about a different set of things. The point of the article is that it’s not healthy for anyone. You’re not going to cut off resurgent Marxism by refreshing Newsmax in a loop in a loop.

You’re also overlooking a very important fact of life. Overlooking other people’s suffering is an inherent human defense mechanism, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You invoke it every time you spend a few grand on a vacation—an amount of money that could save a human life from malaria or feed a child in Bangladesh for a decade.

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#42

Post by jhgorrell » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 2:53 AM UTC

MengerSponge wrote: post #35

moultano wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read a really charming and escapist novel. Worst case, you end up staying up too late because the book is so good, but I haven't found anything more reliable for making me disconnect from the world and its churning. Substituting a book for Twitter for the hour before bed has markedly improved the overall quality of my life. To get yourself into the habit, don't read anything on your "to read someday list of important…

Recent reads that I recommend: N.K. Jemison's Broken Earth Trilogy. Alix Harrow's Ten Thousand Doors of January. Madeline Miller's Circe. Murakami's 1Q84. Although with a little more thought, 1Q84 might be more upsetting now than it was last year.

I just had "Broken Earth" recommended to me from someone else as well. Guess that is going to the top of the list - thanks!

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#43

Post by throwanem » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 2:53 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #41

creato wrote: post #23

I don't like the implication that mental health is just feeling good. Maybe if more people would read and understand the news, and feel bad about it , they'd be willing to do even trivial things like wear a mask. In my opinion, good mental health should be considered to be that your feelings align with reality. If reality sucks, it's not mentally unhealthy to feel bad about it. Feeling bad should spur making changes…

Half the people doomscrolling are sitting up worried about a different set of things. The point of the article is that it’s not healthy for anyone. You’re not going to cut off resurgent Marxism by refreshing Newsmax in a loop in a loop. You’re also overlooking a very important fact of life. Overlooking other people’s suffering is an inherent human defense mechanism, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You invoke it…

I will say, it must be nice to spend so much time worrying about problems that don't exist instead of all the ones that actually do. Seems like it'd be a real comfort.

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#44

Post by EarthIsHome » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

> You see that coronavirus infections are up. Maybe your kids can't go back to school. The economy is cratering.

Anxiety is a normal response to these external pressures. And anxiety isn't going to go away until we address these pressures.

I'll throw in some other amxiety-inducing but solvable external pressures: homelessness, affording rent or health insurance, being forced to choose between going to work and getting coronavirus vs getting fired, precariousness, and so on.

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#45

Post by coldtea » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

creato wrote: post #23

I don't like the implication that mental health is just feeling good. Maybe if more people would read and understand the news, and feel bad about it , they'd be willing to do even trivial things like wear a mask. In my opinion, good mental health should be considered to be that your feelings align with reality. If reality sucks, it's not mentally unhealthy to feel bad about it. Feeling bad should spur making changes…

>Maybe if more people would read and understand the news, and feel bad about it, they'd be willing to do even trivial things like wear a mask.

The actual actionable news is like 1/1000th of the news if not less...

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#46

Post by dutch3000 » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:07 AM UTC

creato wrote: post #23

I don't like the implication that mental health is just feeling good. Maybe if more people would read and understand the news, and feel bad about it , they'd be willing to do even trivial things like wear a mask. In my opinion, good mental health should be considered to be that your feelings align with reality. If reality sucks, it's not mentally unhealthy to feel bad about it. Feeling bad should spur making changes…

reality is what a person experiences, not what they read in the news. the nano second, global reach of news has led to a warped reality that is heavily tilted towards doom. something bad that happened half way across the planet is instantly served up on a global scale. the scope of the news is no longer human scale, thus our inability to ever find balance in our perception of reality. put more influence in the immediate reality you personally experience and the balance will return. i haven’t looked at the news in two months and now get my news by asking friends and family whats going on. if something interests me, i will actively seek out more info on the subject/event. good luck.

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#47

Post by ctdonath » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:09 AM UTC

evan_ wrote: post #33

baddox wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, it doesn’t sound healthy to me to read news with the attitude that a lot of the bad stuff that happens is because you just didn’t research enough and vote hard enough. The point of democracy shouldn’t be to blame the people for bad government policies and actions. It should be the government that is accountable.

many people are explicitly and intentionally voting for the bad policies and actions though, can I blame them for that?

No. They think they're voting for the good policies and actions. We can legitimately disagree over the good/bad of policies and actions.

Is instituting/increasing minimum wage: providing a livable income for those at the bottom? or denying jobs to those at the bottom (being unable to produce >= $MINWAGE)? Good/bad of the topic seems obvious, yet differing views are widely held.

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#48

Post by srineesh » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:10 AM UTC

ponker wrote: post #13

lilyball wrote: post #10

A few weeks ago I identified doomscrolling, particularly in bed, as a major source for my recent sleeping issues. As a result, I took a major step back from Twitter in general, and especially forced myself to stop reading Twitter in bed, or even in the late evenings. This produced an immediate improvement in both sleep quality and overall mood.

Even better is to physically turn your phone off at least one hour before bed. If you need to be available for emergency calls then in do not disturb mode with your family set to punch through Do Not Disturb.

jnkjadbs sbbhsa

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#49

Post by abootstrapper » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:11 AM UTC

mensetmanusman wrote: post #28

I love HN because there is no risk of doomscrolling. Articles here point to the real diversity of what is happening.

I love HN too, but I'm dubious it "points to the real diversity of what is happening." It mostly just has politics turned down to 2-3 out of 10.

Re: 'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

#50

Post by coffeefirst » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 3:12 AM UTC

creato wrote: post #23

I don't like the implication that mental health is just feeling good. Maybe if more people would read and understand the news, and feel bad about it , they'd be willing to do even trivial things like wear a mask. In my opinion, good mental health should be considered to be that your feelings align with reality. If reality sucks, it's not mentally unhealthy to feel bad about it. Feeling bad should spur making changes…

True, but in moderation. Looking at a homepage twice a day or reading a newsletter and responding accordingly is a very different habit than scrolling an infinite, constantly updated feed.