Taking care of yourself in Interesting Times

Right now, there’s a lot going on in the world and it feels like there are fresh injustices every day. A.I. is taking jobs and ravaging our environment, our politicians and the super rich seem to get away with anything, and just recently the U.S has recklessly started another illegal war which some news sources are excitedly hyping as a precursor to a nuclear apocalypse.

Not being evil and actually giving a damn about what's happening can feel pretty exhausting sometimes

Just staying on top of everything in the news and across social media can really impact our mental health, particularly if we’re already on the edge.

The fact is bad news sells. Bad news gets our attention. We’ve evolved to look out for danger and that’s what’s helped us survive. So naturally capitalism and the attention economy uses that particular button to upset us and get those valuable clicks, follows or sales.

I’m going to suggest something that doesn’t always come easy to us. Look after yourself. What benefit does it give us or the wider world if we make ourselves ill? Will upsetting ourselves even more do something to fix the issue?

It’s ok to step back if we need to.

It’s ok to block news sources that upset us if that’s what we need to keep ourselves above water right now. You matter.

Blocking a social media feed that shows you images of dead children in a war zone does not make you a bad person or say that you don’t care. You’re an adult protecting yourself from trauma and looking after your mental health is important. Dare I even suggest it is more important than reading about something we can’t do anything about unless we’re a world leader?

So curate our exposure to news updates, particular if it’s about upsetting things that are distant to our day to day reality. That can wait until we’re up for it. Pick our battles if we have to. We can let others take over the fight for now if we need to, and pick things up again when we’re feeling better.

What can we notice in our own day to day reality that can help keep us grounded? Practicing gratitude also can help us notice and appreciate the positive things around us.

A simple way can be at the end of every day listing ten things we’re grateful for today. As we list them off, really noticing how they make us feel. Ten might feel like a lot but the more we have to dig around, the easier it gets to notice the things that we have in our lives

Caring about the world doesn't mean torturing yourself. You matter too, and looking after your mental health means you're better able to support the causes you believe in.

If you’d like to work with me on your mental health, you can get in touch with me via the website or drop me a message directly at mckellarcbt@gmail.com