5 Strategies for Watching and Reading the News When You’re Depressed

0

blog.backupify.comThe Ebola crisis.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

ISIS.

It doesn’t take much these days to arrive at a panicked state. Not if you stay abreast of news headlines.

Nine years ago, when I had my first mental health breakdown, I realized that my psyche was way too fragile to absorb detailed updates about the turmoil in Gaza or the whereabouts of bin Laden. I didn’t want to be completely ignorant of what was going on around the world, but I needed to find a way to inform myself of the big picture stuff without losing my heart in minutiae.

I needed a strategy, because as a highly-sensitive person (as diagnosed by Elaine Aron’s book, The Highly Sensitive Person) and a person prone to panic and depression, processing all the negativity could certainly bring me down, not just for an hour or two, but for months or even years. I dare say the news has the potential to land me in the hospital again.

Continue reading …

Share this:

Therese Borchard
I am a writer and chaplain trying to live a simple life in Annapolis, Maryland.

More about me...


FOLLOW ME

SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG



Recent

May 20, 2023
Please Let Me Cry
February 16, 2023
Love Being Loving
January 22, 2023
15 Winter Depression Busters
November 27, 2022
The Place of Gratitude in Our Pilgrimage
July 28, 2022
Keep Calm or Get Kicked by a Horse: On Forced Mindfulness

Related Posts

2 Responses
  1. Ammah

    Bless you Therese. You will find peace.
    I stopped watching Fox News, CNN & all the others net works some years back. Half of it is false & the other half is hysterical.

    1. M. Allicia

      When I’m in a bad way emotionally, I avoid all news. When I’m doing better I listen to NPR on the way home from work. They usually present the news in an unbiased, non-dramatic way. They also warn their listeners when something graphically violent will be announced, so I immediately switch the radio off. I don’t watch TV news and or read newspapers. They tend to be mostly sensationalized.