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'Doomscrolling' breeds anxiety – how to stop the cycle

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171–180 of 305 posts

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

#171

There are a lot of suggestions for "long form" and "books" here. Are none of you keeping up with this pandemic and what your country/state/city recommended behaviours, laws and bylaws are?

You can switch on the radio once a day for half an hour and get a full update while you make breakfast or something - doesn’t need any more than that really. And no chance of commenting!

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

#172

> Still, you incessantly scroll though bottomless doom-and-gloom news for hours as you sink into a pool of despair. This self-destructive behavior has become so common that a new word for it has entered our lexicon: "doomscrolling." Imagine having the guts to call a behavior "self-destructive" when you are directly complicit in that behavior, and knowingly contribute to the effect by having a doomsayer bias for bette…

Do you have a suggestion for a "non-hypocritical" title for that article? Or are you saying NPR shouldn't be reporting on the cessation of one of the few pandemic response programs that help the average person?

That title’s editorialised.

How about just ‘$600 Unemployment Benefit Scheme to End’?

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

#173

There are a lot of suggestions for "long form" and "books" here. Are none of you keeping up with this pandemic and what your country/state/city recommended behaviours, laws and bylaws are?

Their are some deeper news aggregations. I would argue that Twitter is just so absolutely shallow, that it offers a misrepresentation of reality.

I read the Wall Street Journal for general/business/politics news. I feel that you really have to pay for news if you want accurate reporting. Goldman Sachs has an ok podcast for market updates.

For transient issues, you really need to dig around for where the field experts are posting their analyses... ...but it's also important not to get sucked into every online controversy/story. Achieving your life goals is about FOCUS - and most news are just distractions.

For Pandemic stuff, I listen to the 10 min clinical updates on TWIV every few days, and watch the numbers on the New York Times data charts (not the articles).

The Sans internet storm for IT security, because I'm in that field.

If there's a Iran/NK conflict going on, I'll listen to the Arms Control Wonk podcast analysis. Stuff like that - there are some great experts podcasts out there.

If I'm bored, I'll read HackerNews and ZeroHedge.

I have found very little value in what my local city/state officials have to say.

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

#174

I have started unsubscribing to any subreddit the moment I notice a post is generating a negative emotion. Nowadays my feed is mostly woodworking, cooking and photography.

I get it, I really do. Negativity is shit. The world is a messed up place. Sure, we shouldn't be bombarded by this fact day in and day out, but I personally think it's a good thing to remind yourself now and then how fucked up the world we live in can be - to maintain a sort of tether to the "reality" of the world's current messed up situation; it puts a lot into perspective. Any thoughts? Am I wrong for thinking thi…

The key part of your statement is “now and then”. Reading the news once a week to stay up on current events and be a good citizen is wise. I don’t need to check in on the shittiest parts of our society every few hours throughout the day.

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

#175
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I am confused and I didn't understand what you mean, but if you mean "hard-left" in the political sense, I feel I have to disagree. In a lot of western country, the "hard-right" has won: Trump in the US, Johnson in the UK, Orban in Hungary, Bolsonaro in Brazil, ... And in some other country they are maybe the strongest they ever been in recent memory (France, Belgium, arguably even Germany). I cannot think of a…

The OP said "cultural and ideological", not political.

Culture and ideologies are very much political.

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

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a suggestion for a "non-hypocritical" title for that article? Or are you saying NPR shouldn't be reporting on the cessation of one of the few pandemic response programs that help the average person?

That title’s editorialised. How about just ‘$600 Unemployment Benefit Scheme to End’?

It seems like you’re using “editorialised” as a pejorative, but I don’t necessarily understand how it’s negative. Nothing about the headline is hyperbolic or an exaggeration.

The string of events from “unsafe to work” —> “cannot work” / “went to work sick” —> “no benefits” does have a direct impact on the economy, unless I’m missing some section there.

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

#177

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

What diversity? HN removes any article critical of the mainstream leftist narrative. They removed this article when it was published https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/opinion/california-housin...

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

#178
I found my way to escape doomscrolling is to never user the homepage of Twitter. Instead I have lists set up for Friend, Interests (People who tweet science / tech news), and News outlets. I then bookmark those 3 lists, and only read the first 2 unless I WANT to read the latest news. I never seen 99% of the people I'm following, trends or adverts, I just see what I want to see on the platform.

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

#179
post #16

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…

I recommend Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

In the middle of that book now. Deeply calming.

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

#180
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP said "cultural and ideological", not political.

Culture and ideologies are very much political.

I think OP is going to meet resistance against the claim if people assume (maybe incorrectly) that they’re talking about the United States. I can’t speak to other places
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