This is a thing now. Headline Anxiety. Watching the primetime news can seem like a disaster movie only for there to be live footage from the outcomes. The present war in Ukraine, the continuing COVID epidemic and a major hurricane two weeks ago.
When COVID become prominent in March of 2020 I was especially discouraged as I have a compromised immune system. As my mind started to learn the facts and how to deal with the reality of COVID such as avoiding crowds and wearing masks I felt more confident as I work from home anyway and have very limited contact with anyone who would be high risk. Still, I would have never imagined COVID would last until 2022 and seems here to stay.
The start of the war in Ukraine instigated by Russia, my thoughts jumped to the possibility World War 3 and not coming out of that. As always, events did not play out as I thought. Of course, there has been the latest news of President Biden saying the word “Armageddon.” How does someone cope with the reality of news around the world?
One way that would certainly starve any anxiety is to ignore the news completely or at least limit news consumption. This would work as one option would be to stick to local news. Being that news is not just on television, another option would be to limit social media and consciously not going to major news outlets like CNN.
Since anxiety often stems from a feeling of powerlessness to control any part of a major news story, another way to cope is deal with what you can control. An example of this would be weather events like hurricane Ian two weeks ago.
I lived in Orlando, Florida for 13 years. In 2004, four major hurricanes hit Florida where the first one, Hurricane Charley’s eye came directly through Orlando. While I could not do much, I was able to prepare what I could like getting supplies like gasoline for the car, flashlights and battery powered fans. That was all I had control over and had to ride out the rest.
My last go to coping mechanism is to practice self-care. Part of this is realizing what is going on is normal and that is okay. Make sure you are doing what you can to best take care of yourself getting adequate sleep, exercise and getting time with friends and/or family.
Headline anxiety is not a real DSM5 diagnosis. I looked up “anxiety from daily news” and sure enough someone has coined this name. Nonetheless watching the news can be a trigger for anxiety. If watching the news is a true trigger than treat it like any other trigger for anxiety and think about how to limit or altogether avoid the news if that is what it takes.
If you are looking for a therapist near you then a Google search is a great way of finding one. I happen to be a therapist in Charlotte, NC but am licensed to counsel anyone in the state of North Carolina. In Google, try looking for “psychotherapist,” “find therapist,” “therapy near me,” or even “counseling charlotte, nc.” If you feel like you have hit a wall you are not able to get past, call me at (704) 458-6298 or email me at jeffhelms@clearerthoughtspllc.com.
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