Find the Positive even if it is Not Making Headlines
By Donna Hayes and Suzanne Weston
In my lifetime alone technology has exploded. I used a slide ruler, learned computer programming with key-punch cards on a mainframe, used rotary phones, paid in cash, and mailed handwritten letters. Advances in technology have changed everything; automation replaced repetitive manual tasks (i.e. assembly lines), secretarial pools became a distant memory along with manual typewriters, digital replaced paper, the internet provided seamless information sharing and travel became fast and affordable. I remember fantasizing about a four-day workweek. Today technology offers exciting solutions such as self-driving cars, 3-D printing, and Augmented Reality, putting the world at our fingertips. But instead of becoming carefree, increases in technology are causing increased levels in stress.
Stress has been on the rise, in part because technology provides constant connections in addition to and our cellphones becoming inseparable with us keeping up with social media and news. Common stressors include uncertainties about work, money, the economy, and safety, and now 78% of Americans report increased stress due to COVID. The American Psychological Association warns that ‘We are facing a national mental health crisis’, and with the media using sensationalism and fear to make headlines, it has only made it worse. Bad news sells “if it bleeds, it leads”…so as newsfeeds bombard us with ‘breaking news’ we are transfixed to the media. Managing stress requires maintaining perspective, which can minimize the -sense of urgency.
Perspective
Before COVID, the idea of an uncontrolled spread of illness was viewed as a thing of the past or isolated to developing countries. Here is the US, we were taken aback by the COVID pandemic. We witnessed the elimination of common diseases over the past 100 years and expected science to wave a magic wand and provide an immediate cure. With the media’s coverage, we instead feel the desperation and the inability to stop the spread of the looming doom and gloom scenario. But we should maintain perspective and understand the time necessary between developing a vaccine, reducing the spread, and eradicating the disease. The Polio vaccine was introduced in 1955, but the disease was not eliminated until 2015–60 years later! It simply takes time.
Our quality of life is changing, improving gradually due to advances in medicine. Life expectancy is increasing. The average American’s life expectancy rose from 68.4 years in 1950 to 79 years in 2021 while the infant mortality rate dropped from 32% to 5.6%. We are living longer, healthier lives thanks to advances in medicine. Poverty in the United States is at its lowest level since we began measuring it in 1959. Because this change is gradual it does not make headlines and is lost to academics. We should be celebrating our success, and instead, we are morbidly fixated on COVID.
Stop allowing the media to control you!
Information streaming real-time, journalists competing for coverage using shock and fear to grab viewers and has significantly increased stress. Avoid being swept away in the wave of sensationalism that feeds on negative emotion. Instead, focus on the good-, and the positive. Strike a balance as you consume news, social media posts, etc. Realize it is common to mix fact with opinion. Try to recognize the difference by examining rather than accepting what you hear. Often news reporters are creating a stir to be recognized. Be a discerning consumer; poke around to verify facts and context. Ask yourself: is it believable, does it present a risk to you, or is it just trending? We are experiencing information overload. It takes just moments for an idea to go from streaming to becoming viral. Instead of letting your ‘fight-or-flight’ response kick in, take a cleansing breath and put it into perspective.
Shift from being a receptor of news to a processor of information.
Give yourself distance to manage the messaging instead of being beaten down by the news, step aside and put things into perspective. Remember that positive stories don’t sell the news. Humans are fascinated by “breaking news” and calamities, but the same fatal attraction increases anxiety and stress and decreases your internal well-being. Headlines extolling that poverty and infant mortality reached a 50-year low will not go viral and may seem inconsequential. Non-the-less, they are emerging trends, showing our resilience, strength, and hope that life is getting better. By focusing on the positive you can reduce stress, and prepare to live a long happy life.
