As the globe continues to face the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russia has invaded Ukraine. We’ve covered reports of brave civilians standing up to armed Russian soldiers, families fleeing in an attempt to cross borders to relative safety, and efforts from global leaders to enact sanctions against Russia. Photos and videos out of Ukraine show bravery and inspiration but also deep despair and heartache.
In some ways, the news cycle has felt particularly brutal since 2016. We’ve covered a Trump presidency, police violence against Black Americans, attacks on abortion access, and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the nation. Much of this happened while we were advised to stay home and stay safe as much as possible, which can make it feel as if scrolling is the only way to spend our time. If the news is having a negative impact on your mental health, however, I urge you to check in on yourself and opt out. Here are some generally accessible, low-cost ways to do that.
1. Diversify what you’re consuming.
Algorithms can be great—showing you exactly what you want to see, at least some of the time—and also terrible—showing you what you usually want to see, but are now totally burned out on. Perhaps no situation highlights this as much as tragedy, wherein you’re presented with seemingly endless photos, videos, or opinions about a disaster you can’t look away from even if you wanted to.
In addition to “muting” words and phrases, I think it can also help to seek out the most wholesome, soft material possible—cute animals, babies giggling, and people baking bread in cozy kitchens come to my mind. You don’t have to feel guilty if you distance yourself from the news cycle. In fact, you’re not helping anyone by harming yourself to the point of information exhaustion.
2. Log off completely.
Get away from your computer screen! Seriously. Read, take a walk, look for birds outside of your window. Call a friend. Do some stretches. Find a (COVID-19 safe) activity or event in your area and check it out. If you feel too tied to the internet and your phone presents a siren call to refresh your feed, put it on airplane mode. Ask someone else to keep track of something like the time and turn your phone off completely, even. Let your brain rest.
3. Keep your mind and body busy.
Break out the word searches and crossword puzzles. Take a swing at Wordle and all of its variations. Find some prompts for short stories or poetry, and get writing, whether at a computer or with pen and paper. If you have sun, get outside and breathe in the fresh air.
4. Do something good, even if it’s small.
If you’re stuck in a doomscrolling cycle, it can be easy to become fixated on the idea that you have to do something to help people in the most need at any given moment. And if you feel like you can’t help—whether because of a lack of funds, time, or resources—you can end up feeling lost and deflated, especially if the news just keeps coming. I urge you to step away from whatever is trending and go big picture in this situation.
Do you have clothing you can donate to a local shelter? Can you commit to walking dogs at an animal shelter a few times a month? When was the last time you reached out to friends and told them how much their presence means in your life? No, these things don’t help folks in Ukraine right now, but they’re still valuable things to do.
5. Schedule your consumption.
Scheduling your consumption of the news is a nice companion piece to limiting it in general, but a slightly different approach. You might find it useful, for example, to not check social media or your favorite news sites until after you’ve had breakfast and settled into your day. You might find it helpful to not check for updates in the hour before you go to bed.
While sometimes news does break quickly, it’s also a lot of people repeating the same points or slightly different versions of the same analysis—we can’t rush what hasn’t happened yet, after all. If the news is causing you distress, it’s completely okay to set boundaries when you engage with it.
And if you have access to professional mental health support, don’t hesitate to seek it out. There’s also always the free, 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255. It’s available in both English and Spanish.
Sign the petition: Solidarity with Ukraine. Sanction the Russian government, banks, corporations, and oligarchs for Putin’s premeditated war.
