I’m worried for the world. All I’ve been thinking about is WW3 and this shit makes me want to vomit. I can’t even smoke weed anymore without having a near panic attack. I feel unmotivated. I wake up and immediately just want to go back to bed. I’m not trying to spread fear but the Doomsday clock is 90 seconds till midnight, during the Cuban missile crisis, it was 7 minutes before midnight. Can we just have one day of fucking peace? Can everyone just stop for one day and enjoy one day of peace?
Do yourself a favor and disconnect from news feeds, notifications and social media for 2 weeks and see how you feel.
Edit: also take a break from Lemmy. I swear I think the doomsaying here is worse than Reddit.
Damn. I thought it was me, but scrolling through Everything & Top Day is just filled with rage bait and doom news. I rarely find something uplifting. And I usually find myself more anxious after reading through them.
I really want Lemmy to thrive, that’s why I am here, but I used to be able to filter all that shit in reddit and still have a bunch of funny dumb simple happy posts. If I do that here I get no posts back…
If you ever find a good solution for filtering out those posts, please update us.
I tend to only view my subscribed community feed, but it would be nice to look at “All” to find new communities.
It’s definitely not a complete nor perfect solution, but I’ve noticed that a number of accounts disproportionately post very negative news links. I’ve started blocking some of those users. It helps break it up a bit. I’m sure I’m missing some news now, but there’s only so many times I can see posts about the world burning up or genocide before browsing lemmy becomes stressful and nihilistic.
So if I see the same negative news story on multiple communities, I’ll click on the user and if they’re blasting negative stories everywhere I just block them. For example, I just blocked [email protected], not because of any harassment or anything, it’s just that they almost exclusively post political and climate doomsday stuff.
Block all politics communities.
I block communities as I come across them but I feel like I might be missing out on a few.
I block all news and politics communities. Also if Elon started rumbling again about annoying things I block the words Elon, musk and Elon musk.
Beehaw
Yep. To expand on this if people still want to use social media, here’s what helped me. The constant doom scrolling is unhealthy and unhelpful.
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Block or mute news/doomsday communities/people on social media. Link aggregators and algorithm-driven social media just sucks for news across the board. Use Lemmy (or Reddit, etc) for memes, interesting discussions, cool pictures, whatever, but not news.
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Collect a list of news sources you trust and add them to an RSS reader. Ideally in a separate folder from other feeds so you can easily filter them out when you aren’t interested in world news. You only get one “post” per article, rather than seeing the same “everything sucks now” article reposted to 20 different communities, and it’s buried in good ol’ boring news. Everything is less exciting in this format, it’s great.
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Amen. OP, I promise the news still finds a way in, even if you swear it off. You won’t be able to escape it completely, but shutting it out by choice makes a huge and positive impact. You don’t need to be constantly pummeled with every bad thing that happens every day in order to still be plugged-in to what’s going on in the world.
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Ignoring problems rarely works…
Ignoring problems you have literally no control over works indeed
On a micro level, sure.
But if 75% all choose to give a shit for a year straight, we could all ignore it safely after that.
You couldn’t get 75% of people to agree that water’s wet, so have fun with that
We were at 64% just a few years ago for climate change…
We’re real fucking close, which is why now is the absolute worst time to be telling people an ostrich is valid role model.
Lol I don’t think that link makes anyone more optimistic.
Policies had wide-ranging support, with the most popular being conserving forests and land (54% public support), more solar, wind and renewable power (53%), adopting climate-friendly farming techniques (52%) and investing more in green businesses and jobs (50%).
When you start breaking it down by actual ways to stop climate change and the highest yes vote they can get is 54%? And that’s a 54% for something I thought wouldn’t even be controversial.
I’m just saying it’s ok for someone to take a step back from the news if it’s gonna cause them to stress out. There’s not a whole lot people can actually do in their day to day and I don’t think fighting on a forum with ten people is helping anyone
That’s the neat things about global catastrophic events…
We don’t all need to address it the same way. As long as most of us are addressing it in a substantial way.
Don’t worry about WW3. The more inevitable thing that will destroy us is climate change.
But seriously, why worry about stuff you can’t change? If they launch the nukes, then you’ll be dead and so it won’t matter if you worried about it or not. So you might as well just not worry.
Activism would help very little, but at least it isn’t fatalism.
I don’t think parent poster meant to espouse nihilism. Rather just acceptance. You can still find meaning in living day to day if worrying about the future becomes debilitating.
This. Seeing one person who you helped smile makes you happy, even if it may not solve all the worlds problems. Volunteering has always brought me much more joy and helped me deal with existential dread better than ignoring the news or any other change I can make
Because it will hurt the entire time you are dying lol
Worrying about it in advance doesn’t change how much it will hurt.
I’ve been here before and I literally solved it by forest walking
We’re all fucked regardless so learn mindfulness and enjoy every fleeting moment
I agree whole heartedly. We spend too much time in our own heads. And most humans today have never experienced the wild. I mean the true wild, where you most certainly will die by the environment or animal if you’re not careful. You don’t need to go that far outside our fence to gain the benefits of connection but it’s an experience that is both humbling and healing.
Forests are being chopped up for investment properties
Yup, I also do the opposite of forest bathing, I also have a morbid curiosity which is visiting clearcuts. Most people have seen a clearcut on TV but to see one from the ground will leave you speechless. It’s a total disregard for all life on earth. Entire forests gone in the span of an afternoon. There’s no sound, no birds or anything. Scorching hot because there’s no moisture or shade. Hundreds of years ago, it might take a team of men all day to fall a single old growth cedar. Now there are air conditioned machines that can do it in a fraction of the time. Every time I visit the north island and I see a semi truck loaded with a single thousand year old tree I basically just cry.
Look at BC on satellite view, it’s an absolute disaster. I am one of those people who defends old growth with their life, I was recently at the fairy creek blockades
Though its not for investment… Its to necessitate human life. Where do you think Europe gets its wood? UK’s entire power grid is powered by BC woodchips. The entire pnw but most notably BC is just the world’s tree farm and, call me an eco fascist if you want, but there are too many people on earth plain and simple. Overpopulation isn’t a conspiracy. Come see the tree farm for yourself, it’s apocalyptic.
And mining
Which is destroying watersheds, and therefore the ocean, and therefore the forest.
But hey, we need to mine to make more EVs! EVs are here to save the planet!!
We plant more trees than we chop down every year.
A lot of the trees being cut down are old growth forests, there are nearly no old growth forests left on the whole continent and some animals specifically need old forests with their diversity of species and with different ages of trees throughout. Things grow back differently when you clear cut a section than when an old tree died and falls here and there or is harvested sparingly without destroying the surrounding trees and underbrush, so the lack of selectivity when harvesting is also harmful. Cutting down everything and replanting one species that grows ok in a clear cut area doesn’t restore the forest. Look at longleaf pine forests, for example. Nearly the entire southern US used to be longleaf pine and now it only exists in 3% of its former range. The southern US is still covered in pine, but it mostly got replaced with loblolly pines. You can replant some trees, but you can’t replant a whole complex forest ecosystem, and many of the trees people replant are ones they think they can personally profit from like the fast growing loblolly pines rather than slow growing species that need special care and land management practices to maintain good growing conditions.
Nope.
I think people who worry about things outside their control might be missing out on things that really matter most in their lives.
I grew up during the Cold War era. It was pretty tense and, at least from my personal perspective, it seemed much worse then than it does today. The days after 9/11 were even worse. It really all depends on your geographic location though (I’m between NY and DC). If you’re in Gaza right now, yeah, you should be worried. If you’re in Oklahoma, go play in the mud and enjoy your life.
Things will get worse. They always have. Humanity deals with it. It’s not a good formula but it’s what we’ve got. I’d be much more worried about the population of the planet exceeding its natural resources and the continued loss of jobs to automation and slave labor (the unrelenting promotion of consumerism) than I would WWIII.
Not to dismiss the legitimate atrocities that are taking place across the world but I think your issue might be too much media consumption. The media is getting worse faster than the world is. Everything is rage bait to garner viewership and ad revenue and attention and profits for stock holders. Limit your media consumption to your passions and hobbies and to neutral journalism like AP and PBS. I mean, I can’t tell you how many articles I read from formerly-legit news outlets that have little to do with a click bait headline now. It’s so frustrating that even the news has a bias now - even when it’s biased towards my preference.
With all the energy you’re putting towards worrying about the entire planet, I’m sure your immediate community would benefit from a fraction of that concern.
Edit: Invest some time is setting up an RSS reader. Use it as a filter for the news you want and trust. Fill it with things you’re interested in, blogs, local news, world news, neutral news outlets, newsletters, etc. I’m in the Apple system and have been using Big News for about a year. I like that it gives you an email address to subscribe to newsletters so they don’t fill up your inbox.
Disconnect and seek therapy.
I would have simply said touch grass lol.
People are becoming far too invested with everything.
You’re not wrong, but so many people have disingenuously used “touch grass” in a condescending and flippant way that it actually just feels like trolling. The way people live in 2024, it isn’t such a simple thing for some people to put their devices away, go outside to a park or whatever, and just be mindful of existing in the moment in just the amount of universe within sight. I’m not sure humans were ready to be tuned into this amount of the planet and numbers that are this big. Ape together strong, but maybe just at the community level with basic technology to survive and enjoy life a little bit. We could’ve just fought off predators together, did a little hunting and gathering, maybe start and maintain a community garden, and otherwise just chill out and eat fruit and swim and fuck and make up games to play and shit. We didn’t need to synergize or circle back or ensure 8% growth year over year or commute. We clear time in our schedules to recenter with the nature we abandoned in favor of a system we feel imprisoned by. It’s fucking ridiculous.
But at least we have plumbing and climate control and electricity and Wi-Fi and a comfy bed in our shelters we barely get to spend time in because we spend so much time elsewhere to afford to sleep there.
Maybe take a break from the internet. I know this sounds like I’m being harsh, but I’m serious. There’s a lot of doom and gloom pushed on you because it sells.
Take a step away for a bit.
It helps to get perspective.
If all you follow are news communities (kinda like me) then you’re gonna see a lot of horrible shit.
Tbh I should probably unsub from a couple of them myself.
I think the weed might be more of the problem than the clock
Yeah cant believe I had to scroll this far down.
Weed is like putting a sticker over the check engine light. It hides the issue/anxiety temporarily but by doing that consistently without dealing with the underlying issues the problem only gets worse.
Something I do every work day is go to a patch of grass, put on calming music and just stare at the sky and clouds. Let your mind wander, it may bring up bad thoughts and feelings but its better to understand how your mind works. Dont look at your phone either, just disconnect and watch the world go by.
I often think about early humans and their lives. Previously our ancestors had time to reflect and process thoughts, feelings and emotions. That is lost in our technological world and our obsession with consumption and distraction.
These exposures and patterns are relatively new to the human mind. Develop behaviours that allow you to cope with the external stimulus
I personally don’t thing we’re all fucked. I just take in life day by day and appreciate what I have. Let’s make today a day of peace. I’m probably gonna go for a walk and try to do something nice for someone.
Also applies to nuclear wars and other forms of apocalypse
You live in the most peaceful time in our species history (ignoring some flareups lately). The vast, vast majority of humanity lives in peace. Turn of the news and go touch some grass my dude.
It’s true, but that makes it even more unsettling. Every petty crime gets blown up by media, every time something happens people start screaming that we need camera’s and more cops on the streets. I used to work in the bar scene in our city twenty years ago. There were bar fights on a regular base. Now one bar fight in a year makes the national news.
The difference is that we’re at a point in time with humanity where just one or two rogue humans could end it all.
You live in the most peaceful time in our species history (ignoring some flareups lately).
And every single flareup has been the West’s fault if you were to trace the thread back to origin. You can’t just plant your head in the sand and “go touch some grass” when your taxes fund the Empire of Genocide.
Great! Peace right before we all die to fucking climate change. That’s nice.
Total BS. It is very clear that the world is moving to another world war, which will be more world than ever.
If we are all fucked, whatever, then why bother worrying? - you can’t change anything and it makes you feel worse. Enjoy what you’ve got left.
All I know is Stardew Valley has a big update today, and there’s few better places to hang out when you’re feeling stressed.
Times like these, I have a 195-unit sized modpack stuffed into Minecraft to be the 100% green-powered, fully-automatic gay luxury dimensional factory owner I once dreamed of being before I learned what profit actually was
I’ve noticed over the last few decades that every time I start worrying about WW3, climate change, solar flares, super volcanos, giant meteors etc. that there’s something going on in my personal life that’s causing me stress. Something I feel like I have no control over.
I guess my brain doesn’t want to admit/deal with my own issues, so I focus on something else, something that feels just as overwhelming.
Working on taming the anxiety itself is quite useful, especially if you can’t help the situation you’re currently in.
The things that have helped me the most are: meditating (chakra and mindfulness) which has been great at helping me calm down; finding activities that feel meaningful to me; spending time with the people I care about (making the time); and finding beauty and/or amusement in everyday life.
All of these things take practice and time, which might seem useless if you think that the world will end tomorrow. But even if all you can do is one meaningful/fulfilling thing today, then it will improve your day and help make your last day on earth a little better.
Of course chances are good you’ll wake up tomorrow, and the next day etc., which means you have even more time to live an even happier life.
Good luck my dude.
In the words of my mother, who:
- survived a brutal civil war in her home country
- survived a husband who didn’t let her work and made her entirely dependent on him before ditching her
- survived all her kids turning on her during a messy divorce (read: the kids were brainwashed)
- survived supporting her own mother get steadily weaker and insane before she died
- survived a thankless job in daycare watching her less experienced colleagues get promoted over her
- survived no pension
“All you have is your health, and these tender moments. Everything else is just extra.”
Your mother sounds like an amazing woman. I’m sorry to hear everything she (and you and your siblings) had to go through. It takes incredible resolve to survive all that.
As someone who’s had poor health their entire life, I can absolutely agree that the ‘tender moments’ really make life what it is.
Thanks for sharing.
I have a friend who went through throat cancer. Her boyfriend left her, her job isn’t great, her rent is high, in her 40s with no kids.
She goes for long walks, does bellydancing, makes her own clothes, and is genuinely one of the most interesting person’s I’ve ever met. Do what makes you happy, kind stranger
Now that is one survivor. I commend that, having survived my own numerous life struggles.
No more than ever before.
All I’ve been thinking about is WW3 and this shit makes me want to vomit.
We lived through WW2, most of us anyhow. Some times are harder than others, but let me tell you something. One of favorite cartoons of all time has a fairly flat character, who’s catch phrase is, “We’re all gonna die.” It’s her custom version of yolo before yolo was a thing. No matter the choices, precautions or risks, we all have to die eventually. It’ll happen regardless of how much we stress about it. Or how little.
I can’t even smoke weed anymore without having a near panic attack.
Ah, that makes sense. Pot tends to heighten anxiety over time. Talk to any of the old guard, and ask if the ever struggle with anxiety since stopping, or when they are clear.
the Doomsday clock is
Is someone else’s crystal ball. It doesn’t hold any power over your future.
just stop for one day and enjoy one day of peace?
Turn your phone off for 24 hours, take a stroll outside when it’s daylight, and forget about anything but real life for a day. Step away from the news. Don’t talk to people about politics. Get some distance while focusing solely on the moments that come your way. That will be your day of peace, and whenever you need another, you know what to do.
Excellent post. Thank you!
Log out. Find something you can do in physical space. I found that organizing with some people doing mutual aid really helped me feel better. Just refocusing away from things you can’t really do anything about, and towards things you can. In my case, it was helping feed and clothe vulnerable neighbors.
