Tuning out

[houseelf]

I'll admit it, I'm a news junkie with a love/hate relationship with the press. Last night I watched Dateline followed by the local evening news. Instead of feeling more connected to the world, I felt helpless and downright depressed about all of the horrible things going on. For whatever reason, I'm finding it difficult maintain an appropriate balance between disconnecting myself and compassion. So I vow to unplug myself and rid myself of this source of negativity. I promise to watch only the sacharine sweet Today show from now on. I know that the ol' Head-In-The-Sand approach isn't very realistic but I can't believe that I need to know a detailed account of every sordid detail of every outrageous and inhumane act. So I guess that my positive coping skill for today is to filter out some of the negativity in my world.



Kelly

Kelly,



I started tuning out when they began the reports of the mother of 5....It was so disturbing to me and I don't understand why these things have to be replayed over and over and over again...There does seem to be so much violence out there right now...but I wonder if it only seems that way because it is just being reported so much now?



In any case, as soemone who has the uncanny ability to see the negative in any situation , I can tell you that attitude is everything! I made a conscious decision after these last two years of groaning, complaining and whining that I would find the positive parts of myself again and stop seeing everything negatively...and although I still have my moments, even after two weeks I am noticing a great improvement. To filter out the negativity, I am just replacing it with something positive. Yep, there are some horrible things out there in the world and it is much easier to find info on them...they make great headlines. I say lets make it a challenge to find some of those good things out there and focus on them!



Wow...this from me...imagine that!



Kris
The Medical Spouse Network

I'm glad to see that there are others out there that feel the same way I do. I simply cannot handle hearing graphic details about violent acts. I don't think it is a bury my head in the sand mentality, because I can acknowledge that it is happening, but I don't need all the details. I couldn't even watch the movie Gladiator because all of the violence was so in-your-face. I don't care how period appropriate it was- it was still violence & I can't handle watching it!



Kris, like you I made a active decision to enable me to cope with violence & general badness in the world. I refuse to watch violent movies, I watch the news becuase I think it's important to know what is going on beyond your front door, but I don't watch the indepth stuff. I stay away from the History channel (aka the History of WAR channel). I think my trouble with dealing with badness came from taking care of so many sick kids in the PICU. My way of dealing with that is to get involved in injury prevention stuff-- child safety seats, playground safety, bike safety- things like that. I've decided that it is a lot more fun to interact with them and take care of them before they are sick than it is to deal with them on a ventilator after a head injury.



Making something positive out of the things that bother you is the best way I've found to cope with those things. Worrying about them sure doesn't help!



Wendy

I guess the next logical step would be to ask ourselves what we can do to make the world a better place....How can we as parents or non-parents alike demand that Hollywood stop producing that kind of trash, find a way to get our schools cleaned up (no more guns, better educational programs) and support one another more so that we aren't so isolated and mental health problems aren't so rampant.



I read an article yesterday that said that mental health problems in our children have surpassed that of asthma and heart problems, and that 25% of peds visits now involve behavioral issues...that our stressful lives are too blame.



Honestly, I think that we are lucky as med spouses to be in a position to have more time aka don't "have" to work and have enough financial stability that we can invest time as volunteers or raise money for certain events or even begin our own lobbies.....



I hope that doesn't sound to strange...but it would be so great to start doing some things to make things better....as just one person though, I just don't know where to even begin...



Kris
The Medical Spouse Network