LIMIT MEDIA EXPOSURE! I am encouraging clients to implement daily media updates rather than spending hours online. People are being flooded with negative, threatening, panic-inducing information and that information is becoming over-represented in their mind. Increased screen time can cause anxiety, distractibility and loneliness. It can also promote a sedentary lifestyle and affect sleep, so it’s “not surprising” that screen time has negative mental and physical health impacts. The number one way you can improve your mental health is to choose carefully the media you interact with on a day-to-day basis. There’s credible media coverage, but there’s also a different sort of less credible media coverage
On top of this, the news is changing constantly, which could cause even more anxiety for some. Avoid overindulgence of news, articles, posts, especially if you are being overwhelmed, There is a lot of misinformation and panic/fear, which only serves to heighten one’s own anxieties. If you feel others are sending too much info, you can choose to ask them to stop sending and/or disengage from the conversation.
