Emotional Wellbeing and the News

• Goals
  • Describe the skill called acceptance as it applies to the news.
  • Accept news as it is without undue emotional distress

Acceptance (What)

Acceptance is the ability to acknowledge reality as it is without excessive emotional resistance. It does not mean approving of or agreeing with events, but rather allowing yourself to experience them and best deal with them without becoming consumed by distress.

Examples

• Accepting bad weather when you are on a trip and making the wisest choice given this lousy weather.

• Accepting an awful circumstance (losing a job, losing a friend), feeling the pain and accepting it, and making the wise choices for moving forward.

Acceptance of News

This skill involves taking in the news, accepting emotions it provides as natural and acceptable, but not getting drawn into them, and then making the wisest choices for moving forward.

Acceptance (How To)

Principles

1. Emotions and feelings are distinct but interconnected.

   1. Emotions are short-term psychological and physiological responses to a stimulus.

   2. Feelings are longer-term interpretations of emotions, shaped by thoughts and experiences.

   3. Emotions can trigger feelings, and feelings can influence emotions.

   4. Breaking this cycle is key to managing affect.

2. Reality is Neutral Until You Assign Meaning

   News is a report of events. Your emotional response comes from how you interpret the event, not the event itself.

3. You Are Not Your Thoughts or Emotions

   Feelings arise, but they do not define you. You can observe them without acting on them.

4. Control What You Can, Release What You Can’t

   Worrying about what you cannot change is wasted energy. Focus on actions within your power.

5. Impermanence: All Things Pass

   Events, emotions, and stories change over time. What seems overwhelming now may not be significant later.

6. Compassion Over Judgment

   View people and situations with understanding rather than condemnation. This reduces anger and frustration.

Framework

1. Metacognition: Observe how you feel and think in real time as you deal with the news.

2. Label your feelings without judgment.

   1. I feel worried.
   2. I feel angry.

3. Separate facts from conclusions that are based on the facts, especially from conclusions from other people.

4. Reframe the Story: Shift from emotional storytelling (“This means the world is doomed!”) to a neutral perspective (“This is one event among many in human history”).

5. Practice Detachment: Observe the news like a scientist, not a participant. Stay curious rather than reactive.

6. Focus on Your Sphere of Influence: If you can act, do so. If not, acknowledge that and move on.

7. Let Go & Move to the Present Moment: Engage in an activity that grounds you (breathing, exercise, reading something neutral).

Tips

• If a news source provokes strong and undesirable emotions, it is likely biased. The best new sources rarely provoke strong undesirable emotions. Avoid these news sources.

• Set Emotional Boundaries

• Limit news intake; avoid doomscrolling.

• Read instead of watching if visuals trigger more emotion.

• Use the “View from Above” Technique

• Imagine looking at Earth from space. The event seems smaller in the grand scheme of things.

• Balance Negativity with Positivity

• Seek out uplifting stories to maintain perspective.

• Detach from the Need to Have an Opinion on Everything

• It’s okay to say, “I don’t need to react to this right now.”

• Accept that You May Still Feel Something

• Even with acceptance, emotions arise. The goal is not to suppress them but to let them pass naturally.