The News, Facebook....anxiety....
 

I click on my news app.....and within minutes my whole mood changes.....I get angry and frustrated with people’s opinions, agendas. Click over to Facebook and it’s more of the same. And within minutes here I am, with anxiety, frustration, anger, concern, STRESS! ......WHAT THE HECK!


I just retired last month. I have a wonderful family, friends, grandkids, homes, ZERO reason to feel stress or anxiety! And within 10 minutes on my iPad I feel stress, anxiety, and my mood has changed to down.


A quick google search on this and wow, millions of articles on how watching the news can create anxiety and stress. Disrupt your mood, and sleep patterns!

I feel I should stay informed, but honestly it is definitely putting a dark mood on me. So, I am going to go for a week or 2 without the freaking news or Facebook and get my life and happy upbeat personality back.

Anyone else feel this way? Need to pull the plug on the news?

Yes, I think it’s a good idea to avoid it, especially having worked all your life for your retirement - don’t waste any time and enjoy your family and what you have.

I’m always trying to look at the big picture, even though being in Canada I’ve appreciated in depth interviews from NPR

I’m happy not to be part of the Zukerberg (sic?) big brother syndrome (FB).

Please keep this thread within the rules.

Hey Horse,

I live in the Uk so obviously we are in a very worrying time.

A couple of points that may help:

Choose where you get your news. There are panic mongers and catastrophising/sensationalising sources, (for whatever reason) and there are those who report matters in a relatively low key factual way.

I get my news from the BBC which is funded by Royal Charter and so is not influenced by any political side, and is bound to be neutral/objective.

The second tip is there is that there is little point in worrying about things that you personally, cannot change/affect.

I don't know if the world is any uglier than it was in the past. My parents lived through the Great Depression and WWII. My dad fought in WWII. Both of those events were horrific.Then there were all sorts of smaller but terrible happenings.
One difference between past events and today, is the sheer volume of information we receive every day and that we get that information instantaneously.

As for FB, I let my wife do it and she controls the who and what of it. The problem with the Internet and some apps is that it allows people to be at their worst. Say things they would never say in person.

Yes, I think it would be a good idea to at least limit how much of all of it that you take in. Why be unhappy? Concentrate on those things that you enjoy. Family, music, guitars, a good book, a beautiful day, that you are able to enjoy all those things.

Opinion is not news. Maybe you should find a different app.

Facebook for news, really?

These are two excellent points.

The BBC is a very good place to get information. In the states, NPR is the best, IMO. (And having worked as a news photographer, I am a news junkie.)

There is much garbage elsewhere.

I never joined Facebook. I had been on Forums/ Internet for years and everybody used fake names.

When Facebook came online I thought it was for women and children and went on with my life. People were always showing me their "stuff" , pictures of their food, their kids, Walmart stuff, cats falling off a couch, just stupidity.

Now, all these years later, co-workers STILL feel this need to "show me" stuff on their phone. Like it's funny. A dog walking into a wall, a monkey with a telephone, memes, gifs, stupid for days. They sit and stare at this stupidity for hours a day.

I catch a little news on my truck radio at the top of the hour once or twice a day and stay out of the sewer the rest of the time. I have a YouTube channel with original solo acoustic music and a Soundcloud channel for original multitracked stuff.

No Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter.

No anxiety.

Have a nice day.

:)

I read a large number of news apps from several sides every morning. I check in from time to time through out the day. Probably out of self preserving necessity. It all comes back to being human and not having influence. I take care of what's in my lane as best I can. I dropped Facebook a long time ago and I am very glad I did. It's right up there with quitting smoking. If anything drop all your friends and only keep the immediate family that you can stand :D

Last warning... leave alone any prohibited topic.

If I didn't have to have an internet presence for my business, I'd have "unplugged" a couple years ago. Can't wait for that day.....;)

Hi there fellow Ohioan!
I pulled the plug on all the news over two years ago and never looked back.
What did I miss?...Not a thing except being angry, depressed and demoralized.
I found there to be no need whatsoever to know " what's going on". There is absolutely nothing I can do about anything going on outside my realm of influence which is right here where I live in my little town. Even that is severely limited by my social contact with friends, family and people I occasionally run in to.
In addition, I watch very little TV for the reason that there isn't much of anything redeeming about that either and it has become even more distasteful than ever. I'll admit I like to watch some football though. :)
Overall, I have never been so happy and at peace and I spend my free time in pursuit of enjoying my family, playing the guitar and trying to be a caring person for all those I come in contact with.
Try it, you might like it. Besides if there is anything really important going on, believe me, someone in your circle will tell you whether you want to know or not.
I almost forgot, I don't read the newspaper either. Oh and Facebook...are you kidding?

I work with News organizations on their product and have another problem: I've had to deal with modern News so much that nothing wants to get me emotionally involved.

Now, this can be accidentally turned off. My wife is a news hound. She loves to watch the updates all day long. Every once in a while I'll find that I'm feeling what you are feeling. Even my wife has begun to feel it. All it takes is turning off the TV or switching channels. I guarantee you that you can catch up later.

Remember, we used to watch one news show per day and do just fine. They used to cover the world news from 6:30-7:00pm. Then they opened it up from 6-7. Eventually it went to a 24 hour cycle. Also remember that the News departments used to be a separate department (really, organization) operated by government mandate as a service to the listener. They didn't need any specific audience numbers to survive. The FCC rules were changed allowing the News organizations to be moved into the programming departments. That means they now must attract their own audience. How do they do that? Alarm. Outrage. "Stick with us and we'll sort it for you."

Ration your News watching. Play your guitar. You'll be okay.

Bob

I'm still on FB, mostly for family and to see where my favorite performers are appearing.

I've stopped following a lot of the so-called news feeds along with many friend's who seem to spend an inordinate amount of time sharing their opinions on daily news events.

ALL of the various news agencies have some sort of bias or agenda behind their news reporting. There's a number of charts available on the net that you can find which highlights each of the TV, newspaper, etc bias.

There's a theory out there that some people seek out the news agencies whose reporting that most matches their own opinion / bias.

The trick is to seek out the most neutrally biased sources for your news feeds.

Yes - you are correct.

The whole mood of the country (and society) is dictated by the "news" and media information we are fed.

I've posted numerous times about this: Statistically this is the safest and least violent and least deadly time in history, especially in America. Yet, everyone feels ....no, everyone is CERTAIN that this is a horror of violence and crime.

It's exactly the opposite.

So, why is everyone so convinced that it's a dangerous scary time? And not just think it....you propose data to people and they get defensive and angry that you are challenging their fears.

It's all from the hysteria that is being foisted upon us.