Current events can be draining to watch and make you feel helpless and small. Sometimes, you might not understand how events started to happen in the first place and feel behind, confused or late. This article is for those who tend to get upset or overwhelmed when watching the news. Although you can learn a lot from coverages about different cultures, places and people, sometimes it can become too heavy and bring you down.
Here are some tips to help you stay informed about the world around you without it bring you down:
- Be in a good state of mind before you turn on the news
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If you’re already feeling down and you feel that the news is going to upset you more, skip it for the night. Being in a neutral or good mood could shield you from getting yourself down.
- Stop watching when you’ve had enough
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It’s important to stay informed and to be aware of what’s going on around you. However, it’s also okay to turn it off or stop when you feel like you’ve had enough. Don’t feel like you must watch the entire program because you’ve started. Usually, they show the most important information at the start of the broadcast.
- You don’t have to watch or read the news every single day
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The world isn’t going to blow up in a day, and if something were to trigger it to, thanks to high-speed internet and social media, you will hear about it in some way.
- Turn off some of your news notifications
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Too many notifications can be overwhelming and annoying at times. Turn some of those options off on your phone to feel unfettered.
- Try to listen instead of watching
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If some images disturb you, it could be a good idea to only listen to the journalists from a podcast or putting the screen low. Depending on the report, some images shown can be violent or uncomfortable. Indeed, avoiding this imagery could help you better take in current events.
- Bad events usually get the most coverage, so expect that
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Unfortunate events aren’t covered on the news every day, but let’s be real, the bad things that happen are usually the most impactful and get the most coverage. Maybe you’ve heard of an influential event that made you uncomfortable. It’s likely to be covered more frequently. Expect that story to be on the news, so you can prepare to hear more about it, and aren’t surprised.
The news isn’t always terrible events, but between, political scandals, war, sexual assault cases and economic issues, it’s unavoidable. Even though it’s important to stay informed, it’s also important to take a breather with things that unsettle you.