To Stop Catastrophizing
One night after dinner last week, I picked up my iPad and said, “I’m going to go read the news.”
“Spoiler: It’s all bad,” Josh warned me.
It feels like the news has been bad for a long time, and I’m hitting my bad news saturation point earlier and earlier in my feed. I don’t think this is about just getting through X or that after Y happens, things will calm down. Maybe the world has always been like this, but the reporting has changed. Maybe these are the end times.
I liked this article on nine things you can do to stop catastrophizing when you do enter a panic spiral while reading the news. I’m placing this here in case it helps anyone else.
3 comments
Oooh, those are all very good points. A lot of them related to my theories on “how to banish negative thoughts” that I post on No Kidding in NZ. I have learned that it is possible to stop catastrophising, and to be able to change the directions of my thoughts. It doesn’t mean I’m in ignorant bliss all the time, far from it. But it means I know what helps and what doesn’t. Hence, although I read the news, I stop reading when I can’t take it any more. I posted about that a few weeks ago on A Separate Life (https://aseparatelife.wordpress.com/2024/05/06/its-all-too-much/) so you’re not alone! Loribeth also had a really good article (I’ve just noted it for a Roundup Second Helping) about information overload.
Oh, thank you. I bookmarked this. As you can see from my reaction to the underwater hotels, catastrophizing is my bag. I really liked Grounding, because it is something I can control. And the finding something positive — I need that reminder that there’s good in the world and not just a steaming pile of awful.
I stopped paying attention to most news. I don’t want to hear the fawning/outrage regarding a certain person. You never hear the improvements. So I just scroll headlines and read things that seem like they will add knowledge, not make me angry.