Hi,
I wanted to tell you something I told a friend of mine who is struggling with his business. He told me things weren’t going that well. He then told me about how the economy was and all these natural disasters. He even mentioned it could be the end of the world. What does he do?
He reads the news everyday. The news is like a scam if you ask me.
If you think that drug companies are running scams to get people on drugs they don’t need to be and this is hurting society I think the news hurts MILLIONS of people.
It causes depression — Look at the news every day and you can’t help but to get depressed. It misleads you –There’s tons of good news, but they never show it. It’s one sided, dramatic to shock you. It blows things up. The simplest thing is generally made to seem like it’s the end of the world.
Just look at gas prices. They show them to people who are almost homeless. They take the most extreme cases. And they leave stuff out so it’s really doom and gloom.
How about how they DON’T show people on my list that have bipolar disorder that are super smart and are working on ways to turn a car engine into one that runs on water? That’s not dramatic enough for them.
Sorry to rant and rave but I mean all this. It makes me mad.
SO…
GET RID OF THE NEWS!
Stop reading the news…Stop watching the news…Stop listening to the news…
AND…
Read and watch things that are POSITIVE… Turn away from negative stuff… Ignore people that talk doom and gloom…. Say “Hey I have to run.” Make something up….Walk away.
Advanced strategies – Take all the news channels on your TV and lock them so you can’t see them unless you put a code in. This is a neat trick my friend taught me. Some cable companies allow you to block channels for kids with a code. Like adult stuff. You can do the same thing with news channels. Call your cable company and ask how to block channels. Don’t tell them it’s for the news or they will think you are crazy or try to talk you out of it.
Subscribe to stuff that brings good news. There’s tons of it. Go to the book store and look around and you’ll find it. And, believe it or not, if you look for it, there is actually a newspaper that is filled with only GOOD NEWS!
When are you are dealing with bipolar disorder you need to be as positive as possible. There’s
already a lot of bad stuff with bipolar disorder. You don’t need to hear or see any more bad news.
If there is a disaster somewhere, you probably can’t help 99% of the time and you are working
on preventing your own disaster with you or your loved one. I teach that having the right positive attitude is CRITICAL when you’re dealing with bipolar disorder . Well, it’s critical when you’re NOT the one with bipolar disorder, too. Even if you’re a supporter, it’s critical
to have a positive attitude.
Hey one more thing. If you don’t believe me, how come whenever bipolar disorder is mentioned it’s about either a murder or a suicide. Do you think that everything that someone does every day with bipolar disorder is connected to a murder or suicide? Of course not, but the news wants to shock you. That’s what the news does – only report the negative stuff.
Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave
I totally agree. I deal w/ depression & anxiety everyday. For the past 11 years it has gotten much worse. So I decided to deal w/ it by abusing alcohol and drugs. Needless to say that only made my life harder and added stress to my life. Now not only am I an addict I still have to work on my anxiety and depression. I checked into a rehab i learned how to better manage and live with my anxiety, depression & addiction. I have to change my way of thinking, acting & being positive. I am exercising my workout consists of yoga, tai chi and some weights. Plus walking. I have also changed my eating habits. I now realize that I am the only one who can make a change for the better. I am happier and most importantly my son loves the new change. A WONDERFUL DAY. oh yes I forgot to mention, I am able to deal more positively w/ my family who have bipolar.
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I followed this advice years ago. I am bipolar and it worked wonderfully for me.
Wow, I stopped watching the news a long time ago for the exact same thing you said…negativity. I am BiPolar with paranoia, and have enough to deal with on a daily basis. Watching the news is like starting time bomb inside me, it builds up and then I do something stupid or crazy, or become a victim of people waiting to prey on the unfortunate. I think the news is a mass form of manipulation in our society, it is EVIL! If I watch TV at all, I watch something that makes me laugh, like Two and a Half Men…laughter has been my most effective medicine in dealing with BiPolar Disorder, effective on Cancer patients to. Well Dave gotta go!!!! Take care and thanks for your emails, JoAnne
just a general thought. My 17 VERY BP teen, would go crazy without the news. She really needs to feel that connection with the world. BUT, she reads Yahoo news online. It seems to be a little more middle of the road. Lots of aahhh… feel good stuff as well as what is going on in the world. One thing we do is take the gloom and doom stuff and talk it over. If A happens we can do B. Stuff like that.
I’m not sure cutting yourself off from the world newswise is the only option. Sometimes we need to know stuff even if it is unhappy. But I totally agree that we need to decide how much news to learn and how to let it affect us.
Thanks for everything!
Annie
david; you are right on.there too much bad news,over and over again. anyone that`s negative, or depressed are sinking lower. it`s a crying chame.us people will a positive look out are so lucking. so you keep up the good work, and keep your attitude.
I completely agree with you David re news.We have to be discerning what we put into our heads. I like to have an idea of what is going on but i limit myself to just listening to the news in brief on the radio. You are so right that the news we hear is edited before we hear it by people in the media who decide what is news and what isn’t. And what is considered news today would probably not be considered news in a different time and space. We have to be aware of ourselves in a bigger universe and in relation to history and social trends before we swallow whole what we are fed by the journalists, who, afteral,have a basic interest in keeping their ratings and sales going by delivering exciting/shocking news. Thank you for your emails-they are so encouraging-esp at challenging times. Hilary.
too bad my husband wont take that advice, he enjoys being miserable and angry about everything and then takes it out on me
Right on. Local Network news channels are especially awful about dredging up negative news just so they have something to report.
I agree with Annie. I think cutting yourself off from what’s going on in the world altogether is unhealthy and isolating. On the other hand, keeping “All news” channels running all day is equally unhealthy. I watch the news once a day, at 6 pm. It’s not all bad, depends what channel you watch. If you see that one particular channel focuses on negative stories only, it’s time to switch to a more upbeat news station.
Living with reality is a necessity, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming.
Hey Dave, i am so glad u r a conSIStant, brave soul.YOU GET A GOLD METAL FOR THIS ONE. MY BELOVED COUNCILER DOES NOT WATCH NEWS EITHER. I WOULD LIKE TO MISS ALL OF IT! MY HUSBAND WONT LET ME STICK MY HEAD IN THE SAND THO. WE HAVE DISSCUSSED THIS TOO. MANY TIMES I WALK OUT OF THE ROOM, WHEN NEGATIVE, REPEATIOUS, OR WORSE THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS; ONLY TO HAVE HIM COME BACK HERE AND FILL ME IN…
THANKS FOR TELLING IT LIKE IT IS! THE NEWS INDUCES A L O T OF FEAR TOO. LOL GOLDNESS
I totally agree news is doomand gloom but we need to stay in contact so i watch it but turn to the game show channel when i’ve had enough newsand watch the game shows which are a lot of fun because there all so different and zany;by the way Iam bipolarmanic depressive type 2 I used to be type 1 in my 20’s when it was really bad and my teens too. now as i’ve gotten older the medicine has gotten better and so has the doctortreatingme .thankyou for letting me share this with you,anne