24th March 2019
Originally this blog was going to be about Brexit and how to manage the anxiety that it might be causing you if you are Autistic and prone to over thinking, or just somebody who suffers with anxious thoughts, who is worrying about the outcome. The objective of the blog was not be political, but just to offer some suggestions on how to escape Brexit for a few hours to give yourself a break from it. However, I did worry that any blog about Brexit could not avoid political feelings and I didn’t want that.
It got me thinking though that the news is always full of upsetting stories and negativity, which unfortunately, is the way modern news works. I suffer from anxiety which I think of as a co-morbid condition to me being Autistic. I catastrophise events, which means I always go to the most extreme outcome. Therefore when I read the news, important, serious stories can cause me some distress.
A good example might be stories about nuclear missile testing. I might read about this online and my overthinking brain will instantly catastrophise and I am certain that I will be living in a nuclear winter by the end of the week. In reality this is very unlikely but I end up checking the news every five minutes to see if there have been updates to the situation and all the symptoms of my anxiety increase. This is definitely not healthy for me and I am sure there are others reading this that suffer the same or similar.
Don’t get me wrong, I like reading the news. I like knowing what is going on in the world and I follow the news online. It’s just when there is a regular serious news story, such as Brexit, I need to give myself a break to stay mentally healthy. This is not me ignoring what is going on in the world, often the same stories will be headlining when I return from my break, but I am better equipped to cope with them after the rest. I am also not saying that the following will work for everyone, but they work for me and I just wanted to share them in case they did help somebody else.
The key advice I can give if you find the news is bothering you is to give yourself a physical break from it. Don’t read it online or in newspapers, don’t discuss with others either in real life or on social media. It is difficult to do this in today’s media filled world, but not impossible. Just give yourself a day off. Don’t be afraid to turn off the TV, ask to change the subject if people start talking about it and not look at your Twitter feed. This can be difficult to do though, and I acknowledge that. If I find myself tempted to look I try to remind myself why I am doing this, it is for my well being. I have also deliberately left my phone in another room to avoid looking at it!
Another thing that I think really helps is to get into the outdoors. Once in a wood, or walking across fields it becomes much easier to distance yourself from the media. I normally find that I might still be worrying at the start of a long walk but by the end I am so absorbed in the natural world around me I have forgotten the news and feel more relaxed. A lot of negative news exists in the world of people but not the natural world.
Distraction is another way to avoid anxiety about the news headlines. I find that if I am worrying about a news item then I need to distract my mind away from that topic. I know that I will think about the news again after the activity is complete, such is the nature of anxiety, but for a period of time the distraction will help me have that much needed break.
Autistic people with special interests may use that as the distraction method. For me, playing with a Rubik’s cube will take my mind away from negative thoughts. The distraction method can be anything that occupies your mind, even something simple like watching a movie. If you are using a distraction technique to avoid the news though, I would also suggest making sure that you are away from any mobile devices that might tempt you back into looking at the headlines.
These techniques work for me, but they are only just suggestions to help. There might be other ideas that work for you. Remember though that although news is negative, there is still a lot of positive stories in the world, if you seek them out. I do think it would be great to have a strictly “positive” news channel. How cool would that be? There will always be some crisis in the world that can cause people who are prone to anxiousness to worry. I am one of them. It’s easy for me to write this and offer advice but everyone is different. Find what works for you and look after yourself.