Struggling with reality.

[ScentlessApprentice]

As time goes on the worst it gets. My brother is the same, and I think my father is too.

 

I can hardly cope with the real word. I have an interest in politics, I care about all that is going on in my country (england) and around the world. I am constantly met with news of people being screwed over by our leaders, racists and people of pure ignorance shouting their opinions the loudest.

 

I used to be able to ignore it, switch the news off and get on with things. But I'm finding that increasingly hard to do. This weekend I've had a near constant headache thinking about it all.

 

I feel trapped and helpless and the noise in my head desperate for change just won't stop.

 

Any felt like this before? Anyone got any suggestions?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[basil67]

Perhaps you'd like Alain de Botton's research on the 24 news cycle and our addiction to media. He's got a book about it and there are numerous articles. There's also an excellent audio interview with him here Philosopher Alain de Botton challenges our need for news - ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler

 

I also went through what you're talking about a while back. My solution was to unfollow ALL political groups on Facebook and friends who wrote highly political posts. I also made a 2015 new years resolution of dramatically reducing my own political commentary. (I'm talking a 95-97% reduction) I stopped watching the evening news. It helped enormously.

[ScentlessApprentice]

Thank you. It's difficult because it's a genuine interest. My friend's share my resentments.

 

I don't like the idea of blocking out the opinions of others as I've always believed it's important to see all views. But, I guess, since all I get from others views is a high level of stress it will do no harm in avoiding them.

 

Lately, all I do is look forward to the end of university, or at least summer. When I get to run away from it all.

 

Again, thank you

[Cherryz]

Become more social, start helping other/charity, be part of the solution as far it posible.

Sit and worry and being extreme about things wont help u seeing it yourself.

 

Beside maybe you and your brother just copy it from your dad because you grew up knowing just that way of dealing with news etc.

Maybe its time for you both to choose a better way and break the cycle in your family.before you have kids and pass this to them too.

[ScentlessApprentice]

I should help. I was almost involved in some help the homeless projects, but I just end up feeling like I'm pissing in the wind.

I'll have a look again though, see if there's something I can help with

[Satu]

Direct personal acts of charity.

[whichwayisup]

As time goes on the worst it gets. My brother is the same, and I think my father is too.

 

I can hardly cope with the real word. I have an interest in politics, I care about all that is going on in my country (england) and around the world. I am constantly met with news of people being screwed over by our leaders, racists and people of pure ignorance shouting their opinions the loudest.

 

I used to be able to ignore it, switch the news off and get on with things. But I'm finding that increasingly hard to do. This weekend I've had a near constant headache thinking about it all.

 

I feel trapped and helpless and the noise in my head desperate for change just won't stop.

 

Any felt like this before? Anyone got any suggestions?

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

You can make yourself stop thinking of it. Disconnect from the internet in a news kind of way. Turn the tv off when the news comes on. Watch funny movies..

[Justanaverageguy]

Here are simple steps to follow:

 

1 - Turn off the TV, Internet and other news sources. Simply unplug even if only for a short period of 2-3 weeks. (I personally haven't watched commercial TV and news in more then 2 years as its garbage anyway.)

 

2. Make time to get outside and get into nature. Go on a walk, hike, bike ride, picnic whatever.

 

3. Exercise regularly.

 

4. If you want to still your mind and prevent excessive misdirected self talk and mental chatter take up mediation.

[thecrucible]

1 - Turn off the TV, Internet and other news sources. Simply unplug even if only for a short period of 2-3 weeks. (I personally haven't watched commercial TV and news in more then 2 years as its garbage anyway.)

 

I agree with Justanaverageguy's advice, OP. Like you, I'm feeling increasingly sensitive about what's going on around me. I choose not to watch the news so much any more - I may watch it only once a day. I also choose to avoid reading or watching programmes with certain content - such as documentaries or news about murder, terrorist atrocities, fatal diseases. I don't watch too many serious films as I'd rather laugh than cry watching a film. Otherwise content from various media gets in my head far too much and upsets me. Also, I find that when I go through periods of spending too long on the internet, it affects my mood as it feels socially isolating. I am a Girl Guide and when I go on camps with our girls, it's really relaxing to be away from technology and live by the rhythms of nature, waking with the sunrise and having days without technological distractions.

 

As Justanaverageguy said, exercise helps by increasing endorphins. You can also supplement your diet with mood boosting vitamins and natural remedies. By controlling certain aspects of your lifestyle, you can do something to sustain your mood even if it may not always draw you completely away from a bad mood. I am suggesting what helps me as someone with an anxiety disorder.

 

Also hard though it is, while it's right to know what's going on elsewhere in the world and to care about our fellow man, it's also healthy to just appreciate what we've got and be positive about your life. Sometimes I think life is not perfect enough for me and then I remember than I am lucky to live in the country I live in and that I have a better quality of life than millions of people around the world. It's a sobering thought but we can't solve all the world's problems so we shouldn't have the world on our shoulders all the time.

[thecrucible]

Thank you. It's difficult because it's a genuine interest. My friend's share my resentments.

 

I don't think you should get into too much negative thinking about others who don't share your opinions about the world o. I hope this doesn't sound patronising but there's a certain degree of acceptance in thinking "I am just one person. It upsets me that the world isn't the way I want it to be but I can focus on creating the best life for myself and my family".

 

I'm also interested in politics and I sometimes read relevant news but I will try not to have conversations about it with people, especially if it's an emotive subject with quite divergent viewpoints. I will try and avoid talking about it even though I have an interest because I would rather get on than make a point. I just think it can open up a can of worms sometimes.

 

I don't like the idea of blocking out the opinions of others as I've always believed it's important to see all views. But, I guess, since all I get from others views is a high level of stress it will do no harm in avoiding them.

 

I think it's just reading a few sources rather than loads of sources. So I can read a couple of articles on a topic but I don't need to go into overkill. I try and read about things in a neutral way, not too many gritty details. I hate reading about ISIS for instance and I try and look away from the imagery if there's a story about them on a news website. Also the internet is full of as many nutcases as rational folk spouting opinions and you really have to not get upset and realise that their opinions are not representative of the general population at large.

 

Lately, all I do is look forward to the end of university, or at least summer. When I get to run away from it all.

 

Good to look forward to the future, and I was the same. I was looking forward to the chapter on my life at university closing. But now I honestly look back and while I don't know if I would do it again, I appreciate it more from a distance. I would say by all means look forward to the future but don't be too eager for it to come to an end. You will miss it afterwards.

[Satu]

Give Armageddon a rest and watch

Edited March 1, 2016 by Satu

[lino]

You're not unique OP. Culturally the western world is declining rapidly and indeed the morons are shouting the loudest and often get much attention from biased corporate media.

 

Best thing to do is follow independent media only and get involved in causes which you're passionate about and you feel are worthy of your time and energy.

 

Getting out into nature is also very refreshing from the sh*t we have constantly blasted at us

[truthtripper]

 

I can hardly cope with the real word.

 

I view humans as animals struggling with this very new tool we have, called consciousness. It's so new that we are still in the phase of merely familiarising ourselves with it, which explains why we often use it the wrong way ie-to destroy/hurt/put others down. It will take us a few billion years more to learn how to utilise consciousness the way it was intended-for the benefit of humanity.

 

The above helps me to be more forgiving and thus much less stressed.

[truthtripper]

I feel trapped and helpless and the noise in my head desperate for change just won't stop.

It's healthy that you feel and are not indifferent. Turn it into a positive energy and use it to do good. Ripples make waves my friend.

[Justanaverageguy]

I view humans as animals struggling with this very new tool we have, called consciousness. It's so new that we are still in the phase of merely familiarising ourselves with it, which explains why we often use it the wrong way ie-to destroy/hurt/put others down. It will take us a few billion years more to learn how to utilise consciousness the way it was intended-for the benefit of humanity.

 

The above helps me to be more forgiving and thus much less stressed.

 

A few billion more years ?!? I certainly hope not and in all honesty I actually doubt humanity will still be around by then Surely we will have evolved into some other form by then

 

If you do any study of older civilizations, I think they had a much more believable and intelligent understanding of how the evolution of human consciousness progresses even though they didn't yet understand the inner workings. They understood it worked in cycles like everything in nature. It has ups and downs and points of huge improvement that take place in very short periods of time rather then a long straight line slowly going up (like our current science would have you believe). If you're interested read into the Vedic Yuga cycles, Roman\Greek cycle of ages, the Mayan great cycle or Egyptian Astrological ages. They all say the same thing and they all predicted the huge advancements Humanity are going through now.

 

Because I think its pretty clear at the moment human consciousness is on the whole in the mist of a massive upswing. Over the last 200-300 years we have been going through a large positive change after almost 4000+ years of previous stagnation. Gender Equality, Racial Equality, huge improvements in human health, education and life expectancy + massive advancements in technology and quality of life.

 

Its just this huge advancement has brought new challenges we are still adjusting to. The advent of the information age is one of these. People are being overloaded with more information then they can handle and the bulk of this information is only the extreme negative information. Thats all the news reports. Yes we have challenges today - but despite what the news tells you - you're actually living in the most peaceful time in recorded human history. We can and should work on todays issues - but we should also appreciate and enjoy what we have.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Justanaverageguy

[Buddhist]

Yes. I have experienced this state not about politics but other issues. It's a state of overwhelment where the problem just appears too big to ever tackle. In a way it inspires a kind of defeat about it that enables you to then cope with what is essentially an intolerable situation. You learn not to care because it's futile to care about it.

 

What to do about it? No idea. I'm still trying to find the answer.

 

But what I've done about me is this....

 

- I do not own a TV and haven't watched TV for around 15yrs. So far my head has not exploded from being out of the loop. I figure if civil war, armageddon or anything of that nature occurs I will know about it anyway by observing the world around me. I don't need a TV to tell me about it.

 

- I took up gardening after feeling the futility about the state of the natural world. I won't be saving the planet but I can make my own backyard very pleasant and enjoy nature while it lasts. Who knows, it might actually last another few million years yet.

 

- I do not participate in social media either. Anything based on hype is anathema to me. I do participate in special interest forums like these those though because they are interesting and focus on something specific. Social media is toxic because it's a cacophony of white noise of people's lives. It's chaotic and exits to create stress.

 

- I brought my focus back to grass roots level, the place where I live. I took up guerrilla gardening when I didn't have a garden and prettied up community spaces. Once I got a garden of my own I worked on that. Focusing on you and your space is less defeating than the state of the globe. You can actually succeed when your focus is local.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Buddhist

[truthtripper]

A few billion more years ?!? I certainly hope not and in all honesty I actually doubt humanity will still be around by then Surely we will have evolved into some other form by then

 

If you do any study of older civilizations, I think they had a much more believable and intelligent understanding of how the evolution of human consciousness progresses even though they didn't yet understand the inner workings. They understood it worked in cycles like everything in nature. It has ups and downs and points of huge improvement that take place in very short periods of time rather then a long straight line slowly going up (like our current science would have you believe). If you're interested read into the Vedic Yuga cycles, Roman\Greek cycle of ages, the Mayan great cycle or Egyptian Astrological ages. They all say the same thing and they all predicted the huge advancements Humanity are going through now.

 

Because I think its pretty clear at the moment human consciousness is on the whole in the mist of a massive upswing. Over the last 200-300 years we have been going through a large positive change after almost 4000+ years of previous stagnation. Gender Equality, Racial Equality, huge improvements in human health, education and life expectancy + massive advancements in technology and quality of life.

 

Its just this huge advancement has brought new challenges we are still adjusting to. The advent of the information age is one of these. People are being overloaded with more information then they can handle and the bulk of this information is only the extreme negative information. Thats all the news reports. Yes we have challenges today - but despite what the news tells you - you're actually living in the most peaceful time in recorded human history. We can and should work on todays issues - but we should also appreciate and enjoy what we have.

Hopefully we will evolve into a form that is much wiser:p.

 

Wasn't it a more peaceful time before the development of agriculture? People were not living in close proximity to each other, so they wouldn't have experienced the terrors of mass war for example. Although, it would have been difficult living with the constant threat of being attacked and killed by animals like lions and such.

[elaine567]

Although, it would have been difficult living with the constant threat of being attacked and killed by animals like lions and such.

But lions and such would have been predictable and could have been avoided by most adults,I would have thought.

They would have known where the predators hung out and the men either killed the predators, problem solved, or frequented areas where they weren't plentiful or where there was easier prey for them to eat instead of having to bother tangling with humans...

Warring humans are less predictable and often sneakier too.

[elaine567]

WE can never solve the problems of the world, as 99.9% of the world do not even acknowledge there is a problem in the first place.

The human species is destructive, cruel, uncaring, aggressive, violent, murderous, greedy, territorial, and it loves control, power and money.

WE may on the surface get "civilized", but the underlying issues are still there.

The strong abuse the weak and the rich abuse the poor, it plays out every day on every street.

 

Best not get too involved with anything we cannot change - Mindfulness.

 

http://bemindful.co.uk/

[Justanaverageguy]

WE can never solve the problems of the world, as 99.9% of the world do not even acknowledge there is a problem in the first place.

The human species is destructive, cruel, uncaring, aggressive, violent, murderous, greedy, territorial, and it loves control, power and money.

WE may on the surface get "civilized", but the underlying issues are still there.

The strong abuse the weak and the rich abuse the poor, it plays out every day on every street.

 

Best not get too involved with anything we cannot change - Mindfulness.

 

http://bemindful.co.uk/

 

Hmm - that's a pretty pessimistic view of humanity No doubt we are capable of these things but we are also capable of incredible selflessness, self sacrifice, empathy constructive solution to problems and compassion. I see both.

 

I think our evolution as a species in the left brain intelligence sense has been so huge over the last 200 years that our right brained senses of compassion and empathy has not yet caught up. We are very intelligent in a cognitive problem solving sense. But we sadly put that to use in unintelligent and selfish ways. But I'm very optimistic about the future.

 

When I look at humanity as a whole and our evolution .... we are relatively young and when in large groups our combined consciousness tends to act like a spoilt child. But over time you can see its slowly maturing just like a child does. Think of a year in a childs life as being 200 years for humanity's combined consciousness Like children part of that process is to make mistakes and then learn from them. We have plenty to learn from at the moment but I believe we will eventually - even if by force.

 

And you are right you can't change the entire world ..... but you can definitely change your little part of it

[truthtripper]

But lions and such would have been predictable and could have been avoided by most adults,I would have thought.

They would have known where the predators hung out and the men either killed the predators, problem solved, or frequented areas where they weren't plentiful or where there was easier prey for them to eat instead of having to bother tangling with humans...

Warring humans are less predictable and often sneakier too.

Apparently it was not as easy for our ancestors as we would like to think:

 

Evolution of anxiety: Humans were prey for predators such as hyenas, snakes, sharks, kangaroos.

[Justanaverageguy]

Apparently it was not as easy for our ancestors as we would like to think:

 

Evolution of anxiety: Humans were prey for predators such as hyenas, snakes, sharks, kangaroos.

 

No doubt. Humans can be cruel but nature is no slouch in that department either.

[truthtripper]

WE can never solve the problems of the world, as 99.9% of the world do not even acknowledge there is a problem in the first place.

The human species is destructive, cruel, uncaring, aggressive, violent, murderous, greedy, territorial, and it loves control, power and money.

WE may on the surface get "civilized", but the underlying issues are still there.

The strong abuse the weak and the rich abuse the poor, it plays out every day on every street.

 

Best not get too involved with anything we cannot change - Mindfulness.

 

http://bemindful.co.uk/

I take this as referring to society's mass denial, or "consensus trance" as the philosopher George Gurdjieff puts it-robotically going about life's daily activities while in oblivion to actual reality.

[al78]

No doubt. Humans can be cruel but nature is no slouch in that department either.

 

Not really. Nature cannot be cruel as it is not a conscious being. Nature does not deliberately inflict pain and misery on humans, it just does its own thing, humans place themselves in natures way.

[Justanaverageguy]

Not really. Nature cannot be cruel as it is not a conscious being. Nature does not deliberately inflict pain and misery on humans, it just does its own thing, humans place themselves in natures way.

 

Well nature is really just a word to describe a large ecosystem of living things. Each one has their own consciousness. Each one struggling to survive just like humans are.

 

If a tiger or a shark eats you because it is hungry .... I assure you it did so deliberately

 

And for some reason humans like to think they aren't part of nature. We are really the same as any other animal in the eco system. Just a little smarter then some of the other creatures. Thats pretty much the only difference. I mean you build a house to live in and you know what so .... does a beaver Ours is just a little fancier.

 

You are part of nature .... not just a foreign object put in its way.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Justanaverageguy