How coronavirus infected my brain: anxiety, the internet, and keeping up to date
jborichevskiy.com
jborichevskiy.com
As cliche as it might sound, I've realized that what truly makes us happy is family, friends and time to devote to hobbies. I've been chatting with my family everyday, calling friends, playing board games with my wife. I'm producing music again, learning new things again as opposed to just being "productive".
I used to order in food 3-5x a week. Now I'm making all meals from scratch and really diving into what makes good food taste, well, good.
I haven't bought anything except groceries in a month and honestly, I haven't even missed it.
I really don't know how I'll approach the world post-Covid-19. The thought of going back to the old life and routines seems a little absurd now.
And after a period of adaptation (and after buying a proper monitor, keyboard and chair), I can say that I'm back to being productive enough even when WFH.
Seeing them hunched over their laptop screens makes me cringe for their backs. My setup isn't ideal (I didn't get the monitor brackets!) but it's a lot better than it could have been.
EDIT: I was working from home already; I now realize I was taking for granted things like lunches with the family
This is common when people first start to work from home. You feel you have to do more in order to prove that you're working at all.
It's also common to feel that all of the time you were out of the house before is 'work time', so whatever you spent commuting before is now time you should be working.
It's worthwhile trying to fight those feelings and define scheduled hours that you work, otherwise you will find work takes over your home life.
* Read
* Write
* Avoid: News, Twitter
* Breath, exercise
I prefer meeting people in real life so chatting and video calls are not enough for me. Many of my friends are not good at tech too so it is sometimes difficult to connect with them. I look forward to go back to my pre-covid life.
Basically this whole exercise has lead me to discover that while I assumed I was pretty introverted because I'm not generally outgoing, I'm really not.
Also I'm a total night owl and being at home all the time has seriously messed up my sleep schedule. Last night I went to bed at 3AM.
That said, I'd probably change my tune after a year or two. I think a lot of "quarantine is the best thing ever" floating around right now is driven by various forms of novelty/nostalgia bias.
I also don't feel so bad about not leaving my house.
For how long have you been in lockdown? Given that in my country (Italy) I started doing that on March 3rd.
Even though I'm fairly privileged (part of the family in the same building, being able to work and earn money) and that I do not particularly long for social contact, the lockdown has been a very heavy hit on my mind.
This is the fifth week. Almost every morning I wake up with a feeling of dread, and a couple of times, before I stopped listening to the news altogether (save for a very short press roundup) this degenerated into full-scale anxiety attacks. Work is also pretty stressful and I realized how much my subway + train commute was useful to clear my mind when coming home, now every weekday is a constant struggle to keep focused or to do anything save the routine.
One family member has also the same problem, and another one said that it's getting really hard on them, too.
On weekends I end up playing online with a long time friend of mine, but as others said, it's not the same as meeting in person.
I end up talking sometimes to the porter (he's deemed essential as he also does the cleaning and trash collecting ,etc) just to have some extra conversation with someone who is not afraid of me (like all shopkeepers for the few times I go out to get stuff).
That's why I say this can't go on for too long. It's not a matter of money only. Long time withdrawal from social contacts, even superficial, can be potentially deleterious for one's mind.
It's a total nightmare. I'm not even sure what's the point of living anymore. The virus can't be that bad.
I really miss walking in nature, there's mountains nearby and I always walked there to clear my head. Now the walls are coming at me.
I really wish they would let us go out but with care (observing the 1,5m etc).. Like in other coutries with more sane politicians. This is extremely cruel. I'm sure it's very safe and all but this is killing me inside too.
Literally if this lasts a few more months I will not be able to live with it.
The first few weeks I spent time cleaning up and doing some online learning but the constant state of extreme anxiety makes this impossible now. I wish I could just go in a coma for a few months (or years, however long it takes).
You have my honest sympathy. Having family (and a couple of pets) for me helps, but the constant shut-in can also cause some minor annoyances to become "major" and a source of attrition. That's why the rule is never to talk about SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19.
To be honest, neither the government or the press helps at least here. For the former I could say many things, but it would be OT, and I don't want to rant, at least not on HN. ;) For the latter, it's usually "you must endure suffering" or "we're all gonna die". This makes enduring this even harder.
There's mountains nearby where I can walk for hours without meeting anyone. But I need to walk a couple km through the city to get there and the chance of getting caught is too high.
I don't really have any annoyances to be honest. Just complete anxiety :'( I'm not worried about the virus at all. The solitude is literally much more life-threatening for me. The lockdown is hitting where it really hurts because I have a strong tendency for depression.
(Toronto hospitals got hammered by SARS-1 in 2002, with newspapers printing panic stories, just like the US is doing now.)
During SARS-1, I was in high school, and there was no major panic outside of downtown. I don't know about internally, so perhaps the hospitals were better prepared because of it this time.
The article's comment section is full of people all saying how they're so much less stressed now, sleeping more etc. Work really is killing you! Mondays are well known to have the highest rate of heart attacks, and Saturdays the least.
I don't care about getting sick of corona either.
I don’t recommend everyone do the same, and I definitely don’t pass on all shear weight of all that’s going on to my wife, but someone’s got to try and keep up with the zeitgeist and make informed decision for the sake of my family. My hunch is we’re in for some bad socioeconomic times, worse than most are predicting, and I’m trying to do due diligence spotting trends as they start happening.
Ideally I’ll look back at this post and laugh at all the wasted energy chasing the impossibly fast news cycle...
One thing I’ve been doing is creating a list of predictions about where we are headed in order to be able to look back and evaluate whether I was able to process the firehouse of news into consequences. At least that part is fun.
I've been an information junkie for most of my life, and over time I've taken the approach of taken (at most) a few topics that I 'stay on top of', and do my best to restrict going down too many other rabbit holes.
In the past I've tried to ration all my information intake, but I've come to the conclusion that there's definitely a value to 'experiencing' things as they happen, even if it's mostly the online information firehose. The coronavirus being possibly (and hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, makes it one of those topics.
The one reason why I sometimes shy away from the 'full experience' is when I notice the topic depresses me or causes anxiety. With the coronavirus, for some reason, I don't feel any of that (yet).
So I'm staying informed, but mainly through local news (because that's where the majority of actionable information will come from).
This really resonated with me. While most seem to think that a return to normalcy is right around the corner, I can't shake this feeling that the world is in the early stages of multiple, massive (and potentually rapid) once-in-a lifetime paradigm shifts. Not knowing how to position myself and my family for the future (and not even knowing where to start) leaves me with this growing sense of urgency and desperation that ultimately manifests as a frantic, nonstop search for any and all information that might help.
There's got to be a better way to handle this, and I'm sure there are others out there that feel the same way. I wonder if its possible to get some sort of crowd-sourced intelligence platform built that can filter out the noise to help provide accurate, actionable information and extrapolation into trends without it devolving into some end-of-days prepper forum.
If anyone's interested in helping build such a thing, or if one already exists, please let me know!
Running three days a week is now a delightful excuse to get outside, rather than a chore.
Strength training with bodyweight and exercise bands at requires less activation energy / admits fewer excuses than going to the gym.
Cooking at home is now the only real option, instead of something I just feel guilty about not doing.
Accidentally working 24x7 is such a real threat that I'm deliberately ending my day, switching to the other side of the kitchen table, and working on my own stuff. Usually I would get home and still be in a half on / half off state, surfing Reddit and work email at the same time.
I do find that media about the pandemic delivers a lot of anxiety and little signal. I'm keeping it down to a quick glance over NYT for anything urgent, and otherwise just bite-sized chunks of The Economist daily at breakfast, plus an episode of This Week In Virology on the weekends. It seems like a decent balance.
I'm actually trying to work 24/7 as much as possible because it keeps the anxiety at bay a bit.. But there's 4 days off from tomorrow which is going to be the hardest yet. And the government just announced they want to extend it until at least the 10th of May.
The day the lockdown was announced I was gearing up for a big walk in the mountains but people were already getting scared and my friends advised me not to go.. Which I followed. I soo regret not going now. Make the most of it while you can!
I have been suffering for 10 years from OCD (hypochondriasis) which has debilitated me almost a 1/3 of my life. Only recently I got it under control with meds and intensive CBT therapy.
It's been a few weeks since I've written this and I'm pleased to say things have improved significantly with diligent focus on my healthy habits, consistent exercise and meditation, and less infinite scrolling.
Regarding the title: it was meant to be cheeky but I do apologize if it confused anyone given how little we know about the virus. I think a better one would've been `How Coronavirus Infected My Mind` but I didn't think of it then.
Stay safe and sane everyone!
It really got to me.
What I'm afraid of is people who spread panic and are negative. I'm really bothered by people who keep criticizing the government over anything they can. Government are not superhero daddies.
The news about the economy also seem unnecessary and irrelevant, in my view. I wish there was more focus on how third world countries are going to fight this, because I think it's going to be much uglier there.
But there is little that can realistically be done about it.
Also, sometimes things are negative. The idea is to not panic, assess the situation, and enact the tasks that are most likely to be beneficial to the most people. This is the theory behind triage, and a whole lot of other, unpleasant realities.
I agree with focussing more on third world countries. We're all in this together, and many countries just don't have the capacity to deal with what the next few months are going to deal out.
Third world countries are at risk of becoming a new, worse migrant crisis.
But that's how they act, and how a lot of people expect them to be, so they have to. As a libertarian, it bothers me to no end that that's the case, but I don't think we should abstain from criticizing government. Especially when they also do have the ability and funding to solve a lot of the issues, but end up half-assing it (as the people you refer to are pointing out).
Disagree. I don't want to give a blank check to a government because there is a crisis.
> The news about the economy also seem unnecessary and irrelevant
It's totally relevant. We may suffer much greater loss (even human lives) from a collapsing economy rather than from the virus.
> We may suffer much greater loss
I don't think the economy is that much of a risk, when you consider the heath risk. As long as there's food, water and electricity, I don't see how the economy is a problem. If restaurants are closed, it's not such a big issue. I don't think there are problems of food security in modern, developed countries. And if there are, it means it was already being fragile in the first place.
The economy or money are not always relevant
However a country absolutely needs to stay afloat in foreign trade, or secure domestic production of essential goods.
I'd rather take a 1% chance of dying from the virus than a 25% chance of killing myself if this lasts a few months more. And I'm only 1 month in now.
I am living in Northern Europe btw, so perhaps my perspective is a bit different.
From cursory reading it seems many experts have been beating the drum about these types of events (global 'catastrophes') and instead of 'wasting' a bit of money to keep stockpiles up, or implement other types of policies 'just in case', many of our governments have led us here in the name of optimization, efficiency, etc. I think it's fair enough for the media to bring that up.
[1] https://www.propublica.org/article/a-company-promised-cheap-...
Look how Spain, Italy and France are fucking up after spending year after year cutting funding to healthcare ever since the 2007 recession.
So yes it is their failure too. Maybe not totally as nobody could have prepared for this, but governments have been seeing healthcare as an 'indivual's problem' rather than a 'community problem' for far too long.
I have serious problems with obsessions in this vein that I believe to be pure-O (just the obsessive part of OCD) related, or in other words, an anxiety disorder. My mind latches onto things that are bad, and assumes that they will become way worse (as worse as possible), and it paralyzes me with anxiety to the point that I can't sleep some nights. I can't stop thinking about the worst possible case. Endless reading up on the subject, constantly trying to take steps to protect myself from the perceived threat.
I hate it so much. I tried to take medication to deal with it, and it helped me tremendously to stop worrying so much, but the medication caused quite bad tinnitus (it is ototoxic), and I had to stop.
I'm not discounting that coronavirus is scary, it definitely is. I wish I could take my own advice, but it would be far healthier if we could focus only on the present realities instead of fearing the worst case scenarios. If anyone knows how to do that, please advise!
But I'm only on 10... If I could talk to my doctor I would definitely ask for more (though I hate the side effects) but it's impossible to get an appointment now :(
Regarding how to be in the present reality: It is a natural tendency of conditioned mind to worry about the future and be guilty about the past. Ordinarily such a mind can only be in present moment when it's involved in doing something it likes. However, you can train your mind and learn the skill of being in present moment by following a simple technique. Ask yourself this question frequently throughout the day "What am I doing right now?" whenever you raise a question your mind is by its nature compelled to give you answer. SO asking this question will break whatever train of thoughts your mind has been riding through and bring you to the current moment. Now ask another question, what should I be doing at this moment? and then focus on the thing you should be doing (as in focus on eating food or sipping coffee). This technique is taken from mind full to mindful (https://amzn.to/2phvft7 )
Above all, in my personal opinion, it is important to realize that most of things that happen to us can't be controlled/managed by us. The universe is infinitely huge and I'm just a tiny spec of particle compared to its magnanimous size. A change in prospective is required which makes us focus on the deed (karma) we are supposed to do and stop focussing on the result/fruits (phal) thereof. Meditation/chanting can help in realizing this reality.
I can't give any recommendations as far as medication goes, but for me personally this has helped:
1. therapy (or perhaps a coach) to help me jump out of my obsessions, reframe the way I see things, etc. 2. to some extent, leaning into it with a stoic/nihilistic/buddhist perspective. Basically, I get obsessed about things, sometimes these are worrying things, but instead of letting my obsession lead to depression, by reframing it as this thing that ultimately doesn't matter to me (even if it does, somehow), but also this thing I cannot stop obsessing over, it loses at least some of it's power and becomes just another obsessive 'hobby'.
So, for example, I'm obsessively following the current crisis. That is probably not very healthy to do, so I do try to not let it control my days. But practically speaking often that doesn't work. So I 'lean into it'.
I try to apply the stoic 'dichotomy of control' ("to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control"). I consider who in my surroundings I can legitimately worry about, and how I can help them (parents, calling them in their isolation, etc.).
I try to apply the stoic idea of negative visualization: what if I get infected, or a loved one does? how would I deal with it. like, in detail and practically. how would I feel about it in a few years? what, if anything, could result from that that is positive? Bittersweet at best?
I try to apply the zen/buddhist/(nihilist) thoughts: what does any of it matter anyways? what can I do today, or right now, that feels like a good thing to do, without the what-ifs and buts. I can do the dishes. I can listen to a corona-centered podcast while I do it if I feel like, but at least I can do the dishes. or send a message to a friend abroad and ask them how things are (just reminded myself and did this while I'm writing this comment).
None of this solves anything, but I find it can often help. And the better I can help myself deal with these obsessions and anxieties (or panic), the more useful I can be to others. or at least less pointlessly destructive to myself.
With the crisis in China and Italy I got properly informed in meneame (Spanish reddit-like site). I could prepare me and my family in advance.
And the keywords are "in advance". It was very useful before the thing blowed up in our faces. There was a lot of important information about how the virus is transmitted, etc.
Now we are all full of dirt and social media is about who's fault it is. There is nothing in there that can be useful anymore. Moving on.
And to be fair, it could have fizzled out like SARS version 1 did in the early 2000's. This is SARS version 2 after all.
Please note and take comfort in the fact that by staying home and taking less risk, you ARE DEFINITELY CONTRIBUTING something very to the larger situation by that act alone -- you are actively reducing the risk for everyone else.
If we can also contribute other benefits, that would be a bonus for sure, but give yourself a break and don't add that unnecessary guilt to your burdens.
Stay well!
So maybe it will help you to hear too. Sit down, make a list, work through it.
Addressing your items piecemeal might get things started in restoring some balance. Or, doing something more sweeping... who knows. Anyway, if I may share my take on one of those pieces:
> And of course, I’ve managed to mix in some guilt:
> at the fact that I get to safely work from home, taking on less risk but not actually being able to contribute anything useful to the larger situation
Understandably, one might very well be looking to do more.
In any case, may I suggest the idea that you are, in fact, diligently doing your part by trying to not unnecessarily put yourself out into public? That's already more than a start.
I'm not a particularly patriotic person. In fact, I'm also intentionally unregistered to vote. But, the whole distancing exercise thing is one of probably a few opportunities I'll ever have to feel like I am meaningfully serving my country. (Never mind for a moment that I'm running dry and have been trying to rejoin the workforce :)
There are quite a lot of informal reports out there of the healthcare sector being slammed.
Great point you bring up about doing my part -- I've definitely come to that perspective in the time since writing this. There are people much more skilled dealing with things and my job is to get out of the way and not make their job harder.
Stay safe. I'd love to grab a coffee/drink once this all blows over if you're still in Sacramento!
Pulled an all-nighter; I'll reach out later to the listed email.
And you, as well. Cheers.
The advice I've seen from the therapeutic community is to check news a couple of times a day for new information and safety recommendations. Otherwise, do things that help you and those around you remain calm. For some people that might be productive work, and good for them, but for most it's a mix of that with other things. Don't feel guilty about being at less than full strength. And practice "anxiety distancing" to avoid making others feel more worried than they probably already are by themselves.
COVID-19–associated Acute Hemorrhagic Necrotizing Encephalopathy: CT and MRI Features
After a week of constantly feeling worried and overwhelmed by the situation, I changed some things.
I now check news online news once a day and watch the local evening news on TV. I managed to dive again into my work routine and stopped checking twitter every 10 minutes.
I feel much better now. Of course I'm still worried, especially about the consequences of this on the economy (because it will affect a lot of people, obviously).
My CEO keeps repeating a sentence that might sound dumb but which actually helps a lot: "Focus on the things that are in your control and be thankful for the things you have".
EDIT: I have to state, we are not in full lockdown. We are allowed to walk around outside, as long as we don't have close contact with others. We have been in lockdown for 3 weeks now.
That first week I couldn't sleep and lost like 10 pounds in 5 days, most of my working day was refreshing the number of cases in my country and smoking e-cigarettes on the balcony.
Have you tried sitting alone in a room with no music, no TV, and no phone for an hour? It's actually quite liberating.
And if you call it digital-detox meditation, it's fashionable, too.
Personally I don’t care. Isolation isn’t nice, but as long as I sit home, nothing bad will happen. I am not cashier at understaffed grocery store, not nurse in failing hospital. Life is good, keep calm!
As long as food comes on your table.
I'm not worried about the virus (because I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home). I'm worried about the economic consequence.
Here in the UK there's a really noticeable difference between London and the rest of the country. In London it is considered normal to stay at work late until 6pm/7pm or later. In the rest of the UK it's considered normal to leave at 5pm/5:30pm.
I hear talk of 70+ hour weeks in the US for tech workers in the US. That isn't too much of a thing here in the UK. Especially outside of London.
Deprivation is always liberating when it is voluntary, otherwise it is like any other prison.
I was in semi-voluntary seclusion since the end of last year, and it's been odd to notice how much worse it feels now that it is 'strongly suggested' or even enforced to a degree.
So I don't disagree with you. But after a week or two, the realization kicked in that it shouldn't feel that different for me personally, and that in an odd way I'm lucky that the thing I was already doing is now not just me being a 'sad hermit freak'. While I'm still less happy than when it was more voluntary, it's helped me a ton to reframe it like that. YMMV, of course.
I'd love to be able to do that. But then, instead of hearing the music, I hear the neighbours, their dogs and their kids, their TVs and their music. It's awful. I would very much like to experience silence, but the modern world denies me this possibility.
Please keep nationalistic flamebait out of HN comments. I'm sure you didn't mean it in a bad way, but intent doesn't communicate itself on the internet, and the track record of little pokes like that is that they lead to flamewars.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Your comment would be fine without that first bit. It would be more accurate, too. Many Americans are well aware of the problems with productivity worship. Many have "tried sitting alone in a room". Some have even read Pascal's maxim about it.
So I decided to stop to consume news and to try to put in practice a knowledge that is very difficult to practice: "don't care about things that are out of your control."
So since then, I am avoiding the news, practicing social distance, and helping my family to do the same and trying to keep my work and studies. The only thing about the pandemia that every day I search on google is: "coronavirus cure". To know about new vaccines and medications that are under test.
All I need to do is stay at home and keep myself uninfected (washing hands, avoiding contact with others, keeping myself healthy, etc). I am not needed to pass on urgent information to friends or family. I do not need to understand the science, or how it spreads (though I did enjoy Plague Inc). I'm not part of the solution, and I can avoid being part of the problem by taking sensible precautions. I don't need daily updates on the progress of the virus to do that.
To the OP: I know it's tough, but you need less information, not more. The product you describe sounds great, but it's not going to solve your problem. Solving your problem will mean redefining your relationship to social media so it becomes healthy. That's not going to be something the social media apps will do for you. That's something you're going to have to work out for yourself.
Refreshing HN and Reddit all day isn't any worse than gossiping with the neighbours (which is what they would have done 80 years ago), considering the circumstances it's actually much healthier.
You will probably get used to the new situation quickly, like humans do, and find comfort in small things, like painting.
I recommend the Waking Up app by Sam Harris. It's a good guide for someone trying to learn.
being improductive is also good. why are you being so anxious about productivity in the first place? survival, more money, glory?
all fine. just take your measures and whatever makes you feel ok, life is very very very very short.
a sneeze and you are 60 years old.
Now, please leave my head.
The post is about anxiety causing them to slip into old bad habits, not about a brain infection.
It's really more like "How a global pandemic is affecting my mind and personal habits."
Your handle is plenty old enough to understand that much about HN.
There is also absolutely no way to tell that until you click into it.
"Rhetorical hyperbole" is a fancy way of saying "click bait."
Edit:
To be clear, I only read it because I was expecting a medical piece, not the usual whining about First World Problems where so many people don't know how to stop wringing their hands about our 24/7 news cycle (which isn't remotely unique to the current crisis) and then don't actually want reassurances that "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."
It was a waste of my time.
My father fought in WW2. My mother grew up in Germany during WW2 and its aftermath. The world has been on the brink before and come through it.
The same world that was all "Meh, not my problem" when I was homeless also doesn't want to hear "The world can, in fact, get through this." So I find it hugely personally grating to read this overwrought nonsense, frankly.
I know this was somewhat of a rant, but I still found this statement thought provoking and it clicked with me.
It can be exhausting to deal with this type of neglect and self limitation at times.
Being consistently empathic and positive is challenging to say the least.
Given how monstrously callous the world was to me when it was just my world in the toilet and on the brink and there were adequate resources for me to be helped but I couldn't access them because fuck me, no, I don't have any empathy for some privileged person who has remote work and a lot of protection from the pandemic whining about how they are back to checking the news constantly and, oh, there isn't even any good discussion anymore on effin Twitter.
And this makes the front page and then people have the gall to defend the click bait title.
Meanwhile, when I posted about actual solutions to help less privileged people try to access remote work during this crisis, it was dismissed as content marketing for the service I work for and sometimes write about.
I also spent some time criticizing the emphasis on ventilators and being attacked for talking about my firsthand experience with lung clearance techniques. Yesterday, I posted a piece about how some doctors are concerned with the 80 percent death rate for people on ventilators and trying to do other things, some of which are very similar to things I talked about. That got three upvotes and the only discussion was someone letting me know the link was broken and someone asking me how the pandemic is impacting the homeless population.
I'm downright disgusted with quite a lot of things. But I also know from being on HN for more than a decade that people here literally don't care if I'm in danger of dying and they certainly don't care about my feelings about the whiny oversensitive BS that very privileged people have ridiculously big feelings about because they are too fragile to face a real problem, good god.
What I meant is that I think it is self-limiting to be pessimistic about our future in the way you described. I think we agree on this point. As you said here:
> The same world that was all "Meh, not my problem" when I was homeless also doesn't want to hear "The world can, in fact, get through this."
There are two underlying problems here: lack of empathy / neglect and pessimism.
Being optimistic, empathic and looking for solutions is challenging. It is far easier to self-loathe but also destructive.
> But I also know from being on HN for more than a decade that people here literally don't care if I'm in danger of dying and they certainly don't care about my feelings about the whiny oversensitive BS that very privileged people have ridiculously big feelings about because they are too fragile to face a real problem, good god.
It saddens me that you experienced this. In the other hand you seem to have developed an immunity against BS through this hardship. I think many people crave for this kind of clarity on some level, especially privileged ones. I don't mean this in a cynical way. I think there is a real, acute need for people to free themselves of self-induced BS problems.
You seem happy to denigrate other people's problems as trivial compared to your own while at literally the same time you're complaining about the title of a link on HN. I hope you understand irony.
In hindsight, I guess, I should have edited it straightaway, but thought it wasn't a big deal at the time of posting.
(I'm only replying because you say you aren't a native speaker. The word doesn't really add clarity in this case.)
I'm not claiming it makes absolutely no difference to anyone ever.
I've been caught by the fact that HN strips out "how" at the start of a title, stopped and thought about it and, in most cases, concluded it didn't really add anything of value to the title.
I've really yet to hear any actual accounts of anyone or their family being impacted directly by being sick. Which seems kind of odd for something that's supposedly ravaging the world horribly. With previous pandemics, the news loved to get the personal accounts of people. Every day there'd be new footage of hospital beds full of patients, stories about family members and their struggles etc. With this, nothing. Just some numbers being told every day, with no real verification as an excuse to enact some of the most fucked measures and legislation across the world.
It doesn't matter what sort of horrifying stressful shit i read before going to bed... when I lay down, that stuff gets turned off and I focus on going to sleep. its never really a problem for me.
I learned meditation in my teens, so I can switch a lot of stuff off, but when I'm particularly stressed - it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid being overwhelmed.
Imagine trying to go to sleep after being mugged or being in a car accident and having to deal with that adrenaline rush, then being asked to sleep. It's that kind of level of stress. Some people are just more susceptible to being overwhelmed that way.
It's one reason why I avoid TV news, and Twitter ... Too many monkeys screaming panic