While we navigate these awful days of war in Ukraine and Gaza, and the chaos of the Trump administration on the world, here are a few suggestions to help manage your anxiety or depression.
7 ways to manage your anxiety
- Limit your amount of news intake. If possible, check in with the latest updates in the morning on TV or in the press and avoid rolling news channels – especially before you go to bed. Rolling news makes bad news relentless. And don’t switch to True Life Crime TV shows either! Find input that soothes the soul.
2. Avoid social media with its non-experts, opinions and gossip. You will not find happiness there.
3. In times of national crisis we are pretty lucky to have the measured tones of the BBC and Sky News. Here are some links to their news pages. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news https://news.sky.com/uk
Keep your heart calm . Remember to breathe.
4. Just do what you can. These crises are beyond your control and I understand how hard that is for many people to hear, especially those who are driven to try and keep control. Just do your bit. Help others with acts of kindness.
6) Remember to have fun too. The secret of happiness, according to Professor Paul Dolan, a world authority on what makes people happy, is this: ‘Every day – purpose and pleasure’. Spend time working or helping someone else. Then spend time rewarding yourself with a simple pleasure. Simple pleasures are TV, reading, board games, card games, digital games, gardening or planting seeds, researching, preparing, then enjoying a favourite meal or drink.
Read more about Professor Dolan and his work on https://pauldolan.co.uk/
7) Remember: this too, will pass. The world will change. As a nation, as a global population, we often face terrible crises. Lessons are learnt and losses felt and we eventually find the joy in life once again.