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

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

#91

Post by kergonath » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:03 AM UTC

cameldrv wrote: post #69

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…

If you were paying close attention to the news in Feb-April, you were being told not to wear a mask.

The media have been particularly bad at explaining that our best knowledge changes with time, as we figure out any test things, and governments even more so.

Our understanding of the way the virus is transmitted changed quite a lot in 6 months. At some point we thought it was mostly spread by direct contact; then by droplets; now we believe it is airborne, to a certain extent. Governments also had the incentive to limit use of PPE to critical workers because of the short supply. It was also obvious that several governments were clueless. So yes, you were told not to wear a mask, whilst at the same time you were provided with facts that contradicted it. This was obvious if you were following the news, particularly the evolution of the then-epidemic in China, Taiwan and South Korea.

Well, for that you need to follow real news, not Fox, the Mail, or disinformation campaigns spread by social media. You also need a grip on how science works, because journalists won’t explain, and often don’t seem to understand.

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

#92

Post by pests » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:08 AM UTC

jacobolus wrote: post #81

pests wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

History will always be in the making.

Sure, but sometimes the history involves a superpower teetering on the brink of fascist dictatorship, or a once-in-a-century pandemic wreaking havoc around the world. Events that will define the space of possibilities for decades to come. At those times it’s a bit more important to stay at least partially informed than when the biggest crisis is a new highway project going over budget or a political leader’s extramar…

Agreed but as a slight tangent history is not about just recording the major events but the little ones too. Who knows what will be important in the future. Maybe that little startup that just got ignored on demo day is gonna change the world as we know it.

I agree, stay informed. But really.... How many times a day do you need to be updated on the recent developments and the current status?

In the past people would get their news once a day in the paper and then later at certain times on the radio and early TV. Is that enough to stay informed?

What has happened in the last 12 hours that I must know now instead of just catching a summary tomorrow morning?

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

#93

Post by danielnixon » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:21 AM UTC

xvector wrote: post #75

zozin wrote: post #59

I deleted my Twitter a few months ago and my life is better for it. The need to be “in the know” was powerful, but I realized that I was consuming vast amounts of shallow information that resulted in shallow, uninformed opinions. I’ve been reading a lot more long-form articles and books; I’ve finished reading three books in the last month or so. When my Twitter habit was strong I would often start a book and give up…

The feeling of reading through well-written long-form articles is very satisfying. Do any HN’ers have recommendations for websites with well-written long-form articles?

* https://reallifemag.com/

* https://logicmag.io/

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

#94

Post by kgwxd » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:43 AM UTC

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.

As a rule, I don't check anything but HN before bed simply because they usually don't have those types of stories. Tonight it had an assassination attempt on a Judge working a high profile case who's 20 year old son is now dead and a husband in a hospital. In the United States.

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

#95

Post by tsimionescu » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:45 AM UTC

xvector wrote: post #75

zozin wrote: post #59

I deleted my Twitter a few months ago and my life is better for it. The need to be “in the know” was powerful, but I realized that I was consuming vast amounts of shallow information that resulted in shallow, uninformed opinions. I’ve been reading a lot more long-form articles and books; I’ve finished reading three books in the last month or so. When my Twitter habit was strong I would often start a book and give up…

The feeling of reading through well-written long-form articles is very satisfying. Do any HN’ers have recommendations for websites with well-written long-form articles?

With a less common perspective:

https://jacobinmag.com/

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

#96

Post by lostmsu » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:48 AM UTC

zozin wrote: post #59

I deleted my Twitter a few months ago and my life is better for it. The need to be “in the know” was powerful, but I realized that I was consuming vast amounts of shallow information that resulted in shallow, uninformed opinions. I’ve been reading a lot more long-form articles and books; I’ve finished reading three books in the last month or so. When my Twitter habit was strong I would often start a book and give up…

The problem I've been facing recently is that long form also turns out to be a waste of time after you go through the most informational/influential pieces.

Lots of the articles thread the same water, dive into totally unnecessary details, or just tell a story that, while fascinating, does not really give you any important new information, or bury it in a few casual sentences, never elaborating on them.

For books it is usually just the same story told over and over again with the character names and forms changed.

That applies even to some of the stuff recommended directly here on HN. I would not even dive into aggregators recommended here.

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

#97

Post by creato » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:55 AM UTC

cameldrv wrote: post #69

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…

If you were paying close attention to the news in Feb-April, you were being told not to wear a mask.

Even if it were as simple as you make it sound, which I disagree with: so what? Our understanding of the world improves over time.

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

#98

Post by crooked-v » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 5:57 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #67

throwanem wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you had told me 25 years ago that in my home country (Bangladesh) people were going to be demanding removal of a statue of lady justice from in front of the Supreme Court, and that the court would oblige, and that veiling women would go from being nearly non-existent to commonplace, and that secular journalists would be getting murdered, I wouldn’t have believed you. But Islamists got control of education, and all…

> Thousands of school districts are integrating material into their curriculum that claims slavery was capitalist.

It was, though, at least if you're talking about early modern slavery. Slavery in the ancient world was a substantially different model, but the early modern African slave trade was fundamentally driven by rich, increasingly centralized farm owners with a business model dependent on unpaid workers.

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

#99

Post by dbsmith83 » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 6:07 AM UTC

matwood wrote: post #21

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…

Completely agree. Reading a book before bed slows my mind and removes the days anxieties. I’m currently reading The Lost Fleet sci-fi series. Pure entertainment.

For sci-fi I really enjoyed the Three Body Problem series

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

#100

Post by dragonwriter » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 6:08 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #67

throwanem wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you had told me 25 years ago that in my home country (Bangladesh) people were going to be demanding removal of a statue of lady justice from in front of the Supreme Court, and that the court would oblige, and that veiling women would go from being nearly non-existent to commonplace, and that secular journalists would be getting murdered, I wouldn’t have believed you. But Islamists got control of education, and all…

> Thousands of school districts are integrating material into their curriculum that claims slavery was capitalist.

Chattel slavery of the type practiced in the early US and elsewhere was part of the dominant Western system of the mid-19th century for which critics coined the term “capitalism”; what else would it be but capitalist?