Posted: 3/24/2008 7:57:17 AM EDT
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I'm startin' a new sickness: IBD - Information Based Depression We all need input and its wise to keep up with whats going on around us. As Mark Twain once said "If you do not read the newspaper, you are not informed. If you do read it, you are mis-informed". Begin to monitor how you get your intel, who you listen to, and how much of it you get. I find myself digging into all sorts of news outlets - radio, paper, internet, etc. Its a craving to know whats going on and not get blind-sided by some event. Remember that DISinformation is as much of a tool as information. Most of the news media coverage is BS. Take a week and analyze whats on your news programs and how it actually relates to you. Most likely, it won't - at all. Too much negative input will drag anyones spirit down. I have several co-workers who came back off of Easter weekend that should have been happy after celetbrating life and its hope, but they came back depressed after "relaxing" at home in front of the TV and being deluged by all the "negative things" occuring in our world right now. Everyday, I take stock of the good things in my life - even in the toughest times I have known, there are good things to ponder on. If you focus only on negative issues, and negative trends that are constantly fed to you each day, you will become part of the downward spiraling chart for some pencil pusher. Most of us here accept the hardships in life - we work thru them and seek to correct them. Thats how most of us on this forum were raised I think. Thats why we prep and stay alert to our surroundings. But be careful how you filter all the negative intel thats shoveled your way. A large factor in surviving any upheaval, either personal or societal, is your attitude. So, I suggest monitoring your information intake for a week. Discover what is really relevant to you in managing your life - jettison what is nothing but negative hype. You will feel much better afterwards and be better informed. |
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I did this in an informal manner several years ago, and for the most part quit watching TV news and limit my overall TV viewing to a few shows that I find interesting or entertaining. Stop watching TV for a month and then sit down in front of the TV for a whole evening of network programming. I dare you 
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i don't watch news on teh tube. hear it on the radio while traveling to and from work and get it from the web. your Information Based Depression sounds akin to seasonal affective disorder, but more likely would fall into the general category of depression. (ugh, lots of years studying psych and the DSM) |
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The liberal media can not whine about global warming while we are coming out of the coldest winter in 20 years. They can not whine about the war which is being won by there own admission. All they have left is the economy. Oil is really frikkin high yet look at the freeway. It's still full of jacked up 4X4s driving at 80 mph that will never leave the blacktop. When things really do get tight, people will slow down and start buying smaller cars again. The only people that are in trouble are those that bought more house than they could afford or needed. Now we have homes back down where they should be and intrest rates are very low...Look what happened! http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080324/economy.html?.v=3 |
Yeah - its like the seasonal affective disorder - only self inflicted! You guys know of what I speak. It is easy to get sucked into the gloomy web and be dispirited and defeated before ever getting into the fight. Morale is a very subjective and intangible asset. I think it pays to guard your morale and consider the source of your news. Too many folks are getting all lathered up over things that don't really affect them and if it does, they are already in a state of confusion and stress. Bad juju. To bastardize Kipling's phrase: If you can keep your head about you while all those around you are losing theirs, you have a much better chance of not only surviving but thriving thru your crisis. |
Don't know anything about that website but the one named after a cheap rodent drives me nuts for the same reason. |
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All things in moderation. I believe that paying some attention to broadcast and printed news media helps to maintain a balanced, well rounded perspective of events occurring around us. Focusing extensively on the ills of the world and potential problems is unnecessarily depressing and stressful. Looking for reasons to be outraged or fearful usually results in being angry and outraged or fearful. Paying attention to local, national, and world events is just good situational awareness. Shutting yourself off from the world and hibernating with your head in the sand while waiting for something to survive leads only to ignorance, paranoia, and general tin foil hattery. I want to live life and enjoy it, not merely survive it. |
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read the first 5 replies or so, and I am SO not following you guys? so you are saying doom and gloom can actually cause diesel to go over four bucks? That naysaying can raise wheat prices? I don't watch mainstream media, but I saw eggs and milk being more expensive months ago before a lot of the folks here did, media has little to do with it. What does have something to do with "it" is consumer confidence. So to the extent you guys think sticking your head in the sand is going to help you, then you couldn't be more wrong. I don't think you meant that though. These are tough times, and we're not at the bottom yet - we are about 40 percent there! so we have 60 percent left to fall if you ask me. panicking? no. preparing? yes. |