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Overwhelmed With The World

Yeshuasdaughter

Yeshuasdaughter

You know, that one lady we met that one time.
V.I.P Member
I don't want this to be a political post. It's a mental health one. Please no responses about your political/religious opinions.

I have noticed in myself and others, that we all seem to be going through overstimulation and burnout right now. I wonder if it has a lot to do with the frightening and terribly sad images and news stories that we are seeing from around the globe.

I know that I had a little breakdown after seeing Afghanistan fall. My daughter, who is also an aspie, is also very depressed and overwhelmed.

Have you also found that over the past two weeks, your mental health has gone downhill?

Do you have any advice for those of us who are so depressed and anxious because we can't do anything to help the masses of hurting and dying people around the globe?
 
Just try to find a way to focus on the positive, thankfulness for what you do have, even the simple things...

And my biggest thing (looking at the most recent news of this morning from Afghanistan), is to limit how much you watch the news, then turn on some music you enjoy, read a book, etc... Just simply get away from that, don't fixate on it

I'm giving myself one hour of BBC coverage, and turning it off, and plan to go for a walk today, where I don't even watch the news coverage of anything
 
Leaving out religion, politics, and church politics:

YES.

I have been doing poorly these last weeks not only because of the news in the mideast but due to the mess that takes place among all strata of society. I've been practically burnt out to the point of a near complete anhedonia. It's like being dead, but you breathe. Only lately are things slowly starting to improve.

People I care about are perpetuating misinformation, people whom I like are taking up most unlikable positions, I have too much to do and no time to do it. I'm down to going a few days in between meals, sleeping little--and passing out in the middle of the floor at 2 AM when it is bedtime. I have been getting more & more agoraphobic -- I don't take the garbage out because I do not wish to be seen. My car is a mechanical mess and needs repairing but I haven't the spoons to get out there & take it apart to get the wiring mended--even though I found a box in my room that appears to have spare parts in it.

I hate to sound dramatic but I feel like I am dying lately. Burnout's weird that way, isn't it? You feel like death warmed over but at the same time--what?

Around friends & all I'm having to forcibly be less negative. I can't keep faking it. I need the core strength to be actually positive.

Everything's going funny.
  • Get job possibly as teacher, AND
    --but the pay is hot garbage.
  • Fall very much in love with a very nice sort of girl, AND
    --realize am probably what they're calling asexual nowadays. (Garlic bread anyone?)
  • Take college classes in summer, AND
    --burnout.
  • Finally acquire washing-machine to fix hygeine problems, AND
    --stripped gear.
  • Try to go to church AND
    --QAnon people.
  • Socialize w. co-religionists AND
    --they're getting crazier.
  • Spend time with other groups of people AND
    --don't fit in bc. too 'Conservative' (am a liberal of sorts, in real life.)
  • Go out for relaxing drive AND
    --car needs extensive repairs. (Is the windshield supposed to fall off?)
  • Log in to Autism Forums AND
    --nobody's on
  • Try to live normal life with productivity AND
    --suddenly forty thousand little taboos of your own creation.
What even is the point?
 
Yes! Everything is awful out there! How am I to maintain serenity in the midst of such chaos?

Well, somehow I learned about being more selective for what goes in my eyeballs. That's a game changer....

I dont often watch violent films, or read horror novels(goodbye Mr. Koontz) or play violent video games. I have this notion that I am like a recovering addict, and that my addiction is to violent images and horrific plot lines.

I read the news instead of watching it, on this site here:

A List Of Text-Only News Sites - GreyCoder

That helps quite alot really. I do other things besides refusing to play COD.

I look for hope. I attempt to inspire others. I remember that negative ideation cannot exist in the presence of "the runners high". As a policy, I evict all negative people from my life, where that is not practical call or text my beautiful friends, and ask for help.

Look for beauty. Seek out stories of heroism and nobility. Share the same stories with the beautiful, cherished, amazing people mentioned above.

Firstly it is about about making a choice to participate in what seems to help me, rejecting that which seems to be evil, and being constantly aware that my mind is a weapon, and one that I must aim and wield with care and compassion.
 
I quit reading the news last year. Now I just read headlines and only read further if I need more info because the headline is sufficiently vague. I can't change any of it.
Reading about what I can not change just makes me feel useless, angry and hopeless.
 
Skittlebisquit said:
Yes! Everything is awful out there! How am I to maintain serenity in the midst of such chaos?

Well, somehow I learned about being more selective for what goes in my eyeballs. That's a game changer....

I dont often watch violent films, or read horror novels(goodbye Mr. Koontz) or play violent video games. I have this notion that I am like a recovering addict, and that my addiction is to violent images and horrific plot lines.

I read the news instead of watching it, on this site here:

A List Of Text-Only News Sites - GreyCoder

That helps quite alot really. I do other things besides refusing to play COD.

I look for hope. I attempt to inspire others. I remember that negative ideation cannot exist in the presence of "the runners high". As a policy, I evict all negative people from my life, where that is not practical call or text my beautiful friends, and ask for help.

Look for beauty. Seek out stories of heroism and nobility. Share the same stories with the beautiful, cherished, amazing people mentioned above.

Firstly it is about about making a choice to participate in what seems to help me, rejecting that which seems to be evil, and being constantly aware that my mind is a weapon, and one that I must aim and wield with care and compassion.
Click to expand...

You're awesome.
 
Something I keep telling people, is the thing I'm going to say here again:

Drop the news. Drop it.

The news, whether it's on TV or on sites, it DOES NOT exist to inform you of things. No, seriously, it bloody well doesnt. Ever notice how they ONLY show you negative stuff? And they'll focus on it for freaking ages? Yet when something positive happens... it's like a 2 minute blurb (if that) and then it's back to some horrid thing? Yeah: That's by design. They do this because the ACTUAL purpose of the news programs is not to inform, but instead to expose you to as many ads as possible. Seriously, that's the actual reason. The groups behind the news are corporations, and the one and only function of a corporation is to make money... no matter what.

And what's the BEST conceivable way to do this when it comes to media? By scaring, startling, and causing anxiety... EVEN IF THEY HAVE TO OUTRIGHT LIE (when they can get away with it). Or, in many cases, exaggerate (far more common). Which is something they do a whole lot of.

Dont get me wrong: Bad things happen. Of course they do! Like the pandemic, or that loopy flood in Tennessee recently. But so do good things. And very good things. The news sites/shows wont show you those good things though, because that doesnt get the ratings/clicks, yet they'll take a swarm of roaches and make it look like a swarm of flying undead tigers from planet X, which are also covered in roaches.

If you want to know what the world is really like... get away from the accursed "news" and get your butt out there and freaking experience it. Just make sure you do it safely, you know. Dont like, go into the desert and headbutt a cactus or something. Yeah you'd "experience" it that way but it would be pretty silly.


And just as a bit of context, I went through pretty much what you're describing awhile back... had a terrible anxiety attack as a result. But some very wise people in my life... far wiser than I... taught me the sort of thing I keep now trying to teach others. Of course, whether anyone freaking listens to me is another matter. But dagnabit I'm gonna keep trying.

Anyway: Yeah, put the bloody devices down for awhile, or at least stop with the freaking news. Get out there and totally dont headbutt a cactus.

I have had a lot of caffeine in a short time!
 
I don't own a TV. I get my news from AM radio (what is called "MW" or "mediumwave" in the rest of the world) and websites, and not video ones either. If there's a video, I ignore or mute it most of the time. My new smartphone has a news feed mainly comprised of current events, and I find that I like it a lot since websites formatted for smartphones have to cut out all the junk due to bandwidth restrictions. (My mom doesn't like the bandwidth I'm using, but once I explained to her that I wasn't watching porn or TMZ, she became less upset.)

Also I find that having made good decisions and planned ahead for a collapse since 2015 has really paid off-I KNEW that civilization would hit the wall within a decade or two, and I decided to be ready. I am just about ready to flee civilization and become a hermit living off the land. This winter, when urbanites suddenly discover the true meaning of "broken supply chain"-there is no food, no water, and you can't eat concrete-I will be eating acorn meal and berries.
 
If you follow the news too much, you are going to be a little depressed in the least, lets just say afghanistan is bad but the world always is in lot of trouble, you just don't hear it all the time.
 
I'm glad you posted this. Everyone I've dealt with in the last few days has seemed unusually edgy and easily angered. I'm trying to keep upbeat and focus only on what I can control. I can't fix Afghanistan or the wildfires but I can love and protect my family and try to send only positivity out into the world.
 
there's a thing they used to call 'famine fatigue' in which people used to get so sick of hearing about famine that they no longer felt anything, so maybe you need 'news fatigue' or 'crisis fatigue'. It's kinda the same thing.

I'm doing pretty good, getting stuff done, being tidy/organised, so it could be seasonal, we're going into Spring after an unusually wet and cold Winter, not a lot of sunny days, but we finally had a week of SUN! Doing the window cleaning probably tomorrow...
 
Focusing on what l have accomplished and what my friends have accomplished.

That helps. But l feel bad for the new layer of people at rock bottom now. The sad thing is running to volunteer now is a no no because of Covid and my age. So l really can't help. I tried to help some homeless woman in LA but l was walking to the gym everyday.
 
Stop watching the news. Nothing that happens on the news matters to you because you can't fix it.

If you cannot change something then you need to accept that it is what it is and move on. Don't let the bad news on the tele become your latest special interest.

Find something else to fix your attention on. Some time-consuming type of exercise is always good. Or start binge-watching anime in your free time.

Most people have a lot of empty in their life. They can fill it with bad or they can fill it with good. But it will get filled because nature abhors a vacuum.
 
News is sensationalised and yeh some of it is fake news to enhance sensationalisation, which sells news, so believe half of it maybe? Who knows how real/fake the ISIS beheadings were? It looks like crisis actors.
 
Try volunteering somewhere where you are helping other people. That is one way to feel less powerless in the face of the world’s BS.
 
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