Stress Center Peer Support

I'm new to the forums and have been asking a few questions. The nice thing about these forums is when you start getting responses to your questions it makes you want to ask more. I suffer from what I consider to be a pretty serious anxiety disorder. I worry about everything and make every issue into a catastrophy. About a year ago when I was trying to figure out why I had all of a sudden become so scared of everything came across a book called The Science of Fear I think by Daniel Gardner. Not sure of the author but that was the name of the book. It was a very interesting read. I know there are tons of conspiracy theories out there about every topic imaginable but this book went thru explaining how the media sells fear and if there isn't anything to fear then they create something that normally wouldn't scare you and over-hype it until it does. I just wonder how many people are on anxiety meds or just suffer from anxiety as a result of these 24 hour news networks that report 1/2 truths and seem to just want to sell fear. I stopped watching the news after reading this book. The amount of news that is relevant to me is so minuscule that it isn't worth watching and creating the anxiety. I know far too many people that just always watch the news and the second something happens they know about it. If there is something urgent that does affect me I always hear about it but for the most part I believe that ignorance is bliss. We had a tornado come thru here last year that took out a trailer park. It was a very sad story in our area. Now every time it even sprinkles outside the news promos come on telling us how their station is always watching and always protecting us. Don't get me wrong, if there is a tornado I want to know but since this happened local stations all want to one-up each other on how much better they are at "saving us" than other stations with inferior technology. The same thing with the news. Every story is one that we "have to watch to protect our family". I'm curious if there is anyone else out there that has just stopped watching the news all together. It probably isn't healthy to just ignore it but I personally see no value in it and it just raises my anxiety levels when I do catch it. Some people can watch it and not have it affect them at all but I'm not one of those people. Anyone else have these feelings about the media and just avoid it?

Hi,

First of all, Geaux Saints!!!:) I'm so excited about this upcoming Super Bowl match up against the Colts!!! That was my dream Super Bowl match up come true. I do want the Saints to win, but with Peyton Manning being good friends with Drew Brees...I think this is going to fun:)! Also, if you are a Saints fan from the area, this just means so much more than football, and you are just so happy the Saints are even getting this opportunity:). Sorry to get off topic, but I couldn't help but notice your user name.

I did go through a period where I quit watching the news after a severe trauma that included being near the path of an F-4 tornado, my son had just been diagnosed with autism, etc. I realized before his diagnosis that I was an at home mom who had the t.v. and news on way too much, and my anxiety over all of the dangers of what could happen to my son distracted me from facing what was really wrong with him if that makes sense. I was right to be worried that something was wrong, but the media never pointed me to the truth of what was wrong so I see that as time wasted where I wish I could have enjoyed interactions with my son before his diagnosis because he had skills then that autism made him lose, or I wish that I wouldn't have been so distracted by "mad cow disease" that I could have gotten to the truth of his condition to help him sooner possibly.

So, although I do watch the news now, read the news on the internet, etc., I did go through a period of almost a year, especially during 9/11 when I didn't watch the news. I also don't bombard myself about Haiti. I know to pray for those people, to help monetarily if I can, but I don't need to know all of the gruesome details. Because my boundaries are better, I know when to ignore certain information and when I'm being manipulated by fear, etc.

Regarding the weather, it's the same thing here. After the F-4 tornado, I learned all that I could about the weather that can spawn tornadoes so I wouldn't over react when it sprinkled outside. I guess that is one good benefit from experiencing that in that I saw what the weather was really like that makes a huge tornado. I mean it was 86 degrees outside on a winter day because a strong warm front came from the Gulf, and we had a strong arctic blast clash with it. It took very strong weather dynamics to make that monster, and if a tornado does hit your home, etc. it's tragic but tornadoes are really compact meaning that you could be across the street from one and it not effect you. Tornadoes really don't come out of nowhere. There are predictable dynamics and many ingredients that have to be present to form one. And then, do you worry about an EF-0 when you are in a sturdy structure the same as you would worry about an EF-5? No. So, I do watch the weather enough to know what the chances of severe weather are on a particular day, how great the risk, and how much that is going to impact my street, etc. I then control the information by watching the radar myself on the news website-if a radar works it doesn't lie so it doesn't matter if it is cloudy outside if there aren't dynamics to make the tornado, and I pay attention to the statistics, etc. The truth and fact is often anxiety relieving. I am not so much an "ignorance is bliss" person as I am "I want the truth" person. I know how to react, and then even if all of the statistics point to danger, I know how to use my knowledge to protect myself and my family as much as I can knowing I did as best as I could with my human limitations. But, to be worried that a tornado is just going to pop out of the sky because it's sprinkling when there is no statistical threat of a tornado because the dynamics aren't in place...what a waste, and I used to live like that, and I want that time back.

So, yes. I've seen the behavior in the media you are talking about. I even even experienced one time after the front that caused the tornado had already pushed through and the air had stabilized where a tornado was impossible when some local radio announcers were telling everyone they were still in danger. I experienced it being a day where we were under slight risk of weather, and the radio announcers were telling everyone that we were all going to die, and I turned it off!:) I knew better.

If you knew me, you'd know how much progress I have made dealing with tornadoes, so I love sharing what helped me. You can read an old post I have called "Level of Alert" which talks about the weather, if you think it will help at all.

I also didn't mean to get sidetracked talking about the weather. Yes, I agree with you. There are not only times where the media uses fear to manipulate, but it also doesn't give the full story when something is wrong and that knowledge could help. I'm not trying to spread worry about the economy, but we are in something that is going to take a while to fix, and acknowledging the truth of the severity of it would help people who are suffering from the economy get the help they need, know what to expect over the long term, etc. The media puts on a public relations front where they sound like real estate agents, and I do believe in positive truthful thinking, but what they are doing isn't the truth. If you listen to their lies, and you can make a decision that impacts your life in a negative way. I am not saying to be afraid of the economy at all, but to get information that can help you from credible sources and people who prove to be wise counsel. Also, when the truth finally comes out because it's so bad it can't be ignored, they take back what they said in the first place, and make it look like the tragedy came out of nowhere. Acting like everything just pops out of nowhere when there are warning signs, etc. teaches people that they are helpless and have not control and that they need to worry that something is just going to pop out of nowhere and get them so they stay in a constant panic. "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin De Becker talks about intuition, and how the media acts like human to human crime such as murder just pops out of nowhere. A lady in our area was recently shot by her ex-husband. He had been stalking her for years so badly that he would spend nights banging on her bedroom window, etc. I don't know what her options were, but his killing her didn't pop out of nowhere. No, I don't watch stuff that says, "Everything can kill you-wash your hands but don't wash your hands, eat this Vitamin or you will die or don't eat this Vitamin because it will kill you, etc." Giving contradictory advice in the form of sensationalism actually ends up hurting people and provides a false atmosphere where people can't get to the truth to learn how to help themselves in an appropriate way. I try to use common sense.

So, I know that, and I try to get my information from truthful sources instead of avoiding news altogether and I block out what I know is not the truth and yes, I'll turn the t.v. off or change the channel if I think it is best.

Take care,
luvpiggy

Thank you for the response. I apologize for not responding sooner. A busy week at work. I asked this question because I do notice that so many of the stories being reported are inaccurate and I feel fear inducing and was wondering if any studies had been done regarding it. I have found a few books and internet articles but not much more. It seems the amount of people on anxiety meds now is mind boggling and I wonder how much the media plays into it. I had some anxiety following 9/11 like everyone else fearing other attacks, the anthrax scare and everything else that was going on at that time but it went away. Oddly enough at this time I still would watch the news and read the paper each day and not have it affect me much. About 5 years ago though something just snapped in me and I started being afraid of everything and watching the news just made it worse, so I stopped completely. Most of the news I get word of mouth. It has helped to some degree but I'm sure has caused negative effects on me.
Thanks for getting "sidetracked" about the weather as this is my one thing I am most phobic about from the minute I wake up till I go to bed. I have no idea why. I have not had any weather related incidents that would cause this. We did have an ice storm last year that took out power to 1/2 our town of 150,000. I was without power for about 2 days but I have had this fear for years before that. The fact that I made it through this should make me feel better because it doesn't get much worse than that but even if I hear it is going to rain a little I get edgy. It seems like a stupid thing to fear but I guess everyone has something they fear. I saw a girl on TV once afraid of pickles and remember thinking how stupid it was. Well, that is still a little stupid but I'm more sympathetic to the fact that she did have a fear she couldn't control. Thanks again for the response. It really helped.