alicespringstomind

An interesting lesson for me in 2020 was recognising the role that mainstream media play in impacting our responses significantly.  Months ago when I turned off all mainstream news it led me to Twitter, where I somehow discovered various scientists, sociologists, analysts etc, discussing things on a more even level that didn’t promote fear and led me to sources which informed me far better than anything the mainstream channels had been doing.  One morning recently I turned on the television news briefly. I am not prone to anxiety, but within moments of listening to highly dramatic pandemic announcements with no context provided, I became conscious of an increasing feeling of unease!  I quickly switched the off button and my brain reverted to a state of calm.

A medical doctor and a psychologist tweeted this conversation about the negative impact of mainstream media.

I’ve cancelled my cable subscription & am now making a conscious effort to no longer click on dangerous fear-mongering headlines or share such coverage. Highly recommended. One of the best things you can do right now to protect your & your family’s mental/physical health.
Next phase of freeing yourself from media’s dangerous fear-mongering: remove news apps from mobile devices, turn off push notifications on mobile devices & unfollow/unlike media on social media platforms. Now you’re in control & free to actively seek trusted content on your terms.

Really sound advice. Once you’ve done that and you’ve managed to calm down your amygdala then you can start finding objective information and you will see the whole media narrative begin to fall apart.

Dr John Lee, a Professor of Pathology, discusses the disproportionate fear about Covid-19 being experienced in the United Kingdom in the below eight minute interview.