‘I just can’t watch the news at the moment, it’s too depressing.’ Sound familiar?
I know I’ve certainly heard or said these words more and more often over the past couple of years. And it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the state of things, especially when the media-induced panic is inescapable.
Since COVID 19 began, daily news has felt all-encompassing at times. We constantly checked the news and social media, needing that connection to the outside world. But instead of reassuring us, this compulsive monitoring only fuelled our anxiety.
Right now, we’re living in a world where so much feels outside our control.
What happens when you’re constantly fearful, but feel you can’t change anything?
Here are three things we can all do to become more news resilient:
1. Only read news you trust
Have you ever had something forwarded to you that you aren’t sure is accurate? Being careful about what we share is so important to avoid making your loved ones unnecessarily worried and fearful.
And sticking to trustworthy news sources is so important. The BBC is considered to be one of the most trustworthy, and as a general rule you can find a lot of misinformation on social media. This spreads quickly in comparison to traditional media because of a lack of regulation.
2. Take action where you can.
Together we’ve made the world a far better place for children. None of it happened by accident, but through determination, kindness and teamwork.
Now, for the first time in decades, this progress could go backwards.
But by working together, we can help children build the future they deserve. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.
When you take action to support Save the Children, you’re right there with children as they start to take the future into their own hands.
As well as providing lifesaving, short-term help, together with children we push for and create deep-rooted change that lasts a lifetime.
3. Give yourself a break.
We're all striving for happy and fulfilling lives. Sometimes that means helping people outside your immediate world – like donating or campaigning – but a lot of the time it doesn’t.
It's true that the world needs to be kinder, fairer, and happier. Feeling stress and anxiety about covid, conflict, and the climate crisis doesn’t help any of the kids affected.
We can only do what we can, and that looks different for everybody.
