In these time of the political and social unrest with peaceful protest, race relations being upset and violent anarchist in cities across this nation, coupled with the COVID 19 Crisis, there are a number of things we can do to keep our sanity and safeguard our psyche and overall psychological well-being.
Electronic and print news medias may or may not capture and tell the truth as to the true nature of the disturbances and what may have been the impetus and culprits of the disturbances. To that end, we can be constantly bombarded with negative information that can cause the average person to go a little bonkers. There are six items I would strongly recommend to keep your sanity during these unsteady and truly historically epic times:
- Limit your daily news intake. If you are the type of person that inundates yourself with news reports and you find your outlook on life and humanity is dim, you might be over your limit on negative information.
- Find the truth. For the majority of electronic and print media, each entity will have it’s own agenda or slant. Some will tell the truth, some will tell partial truth and some will outright purposely omit useful and truthful information. If you are certain the information you are receiving (and acting on) is the truth, just for giggles, confirm you are getting the truth. If you are not being told the truth, switch to a source that will tell you the truth.
- Fake news on Social media. Some of the information on social media platforms is either not legitimate, old information that occurred some time ago and being shared again and again, outright fabricated or manipulated. Don’t believe everything you see on Social Media.
- Be careful what you write, post, comment or forward. Everything you click on, post, comment or forward can take on a life of it ‘s own and live for a very long time. You will never know exactly where the item will reappear, or how it can be used or misconstrued. Don’t post “hot button” items that someone else may feel the need to attack you over. People have posted or forwarded things to others they think are somewhat innocuous only to see that someone has taken great offense to the post and almost ready to go to war over your post or comment. Not to mention, present or future employers may see the post and take administrative actions that could cost you your job.
- Be aware of alcohol or controlled substance intake. Know that legal altering substances, such as alcoholic beverages and marijuana, can impact relationships in negative ways. These substances can have the effect of becoming habit and their use will not facilitate problem solving.
- Get some vitamin D. It is imperative that you get out of the house and get some sunlight. Vitamin D is released in sunlight and will help you establishing, maintaining or boosting your mood.