Everything In Moderation — Except the News, Apparently
By: Sophie Radvan
Tags: Mental Health, Lifestyle, News, Society, Culture

Light has dark. Yin has yang. Black has white. Water has fire. Good has bad — unless, of course, you read the news or check social media in the year 2020 (officially the most depressing era in my 28-years of life).

If you believe in the importance of moderation and a state of equilibrium, then I beg of you to practice it now more than ever. We say “everything in moderation” in relation to most aspects of healthy living from food to alcohol consumption to fitness — yet when it comes to our mental health, we dive headfirst into a pool of news. Bad, bad news.

Social media, particularly Instagram, used to bring me joy, enlightenment, and no shortage of creative ideas. Now it’s become a negative, depressing echo chamber of headlines and media coverage…often biased, one-sided coverage.

Make no mistake, what’s currently going on in the world is extremely important. It requires discussion and conversation — but does it have to be the only thing we talk about? Every minute of every day? Can we talk about anything else without a hurricane of backlash?

When the dark overshadows the light

On May 30, my sister gave birth to her first child yet she hesitated to share the news on social media due to the George Floyd protests. She felt it was wrong to share arguably the happiest day of her life due to the endless black squares on her feed.

So she waited, and waited, and waited…hoping for an appropriate opportunity to administer some good news completely unrelated to trending headlines.

Her biggest fear was that a stranger would somehow stumble upon her profile, see her baby announcement, and leave a nasty comment — which, let’s face it, is pretty fucking common these days.

“No one gives a fuck about your privileged white baby right now, OKAY?! We need justice for George and Breonna!!!”

Thankfully, that did not happen. My sister set her profile to “private” before her baby announcement as a precaution. If this sounds like an overreaction, you must not read the comment section on YouTube, Reddit, and Instagram. This level of outrage and hate thrives on the internet where usernames rip each other to shreds on a daily basis.

It’s not an either/or situation

Something I wish more of us realized is that we can have both, it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation. We can fight for justice and congratulate my sister. We can protest police brutality and post a silly TikTok dance. That’s what I call moderation.

It goes without saying that we rank racism on a higher level of importance than your favorite face cream, for example, but where does mental health fall on that list? It is below or above police brutality?

For me, it depends on the day. Some days I feel mentally strong and capable enough to absorb a larger quantity of news. Other days, I fall apart at the first fear-mongering headline I see.

Some days, I attend a protest, donate to charity, support WOC (women of color) businesses, and spark controversial conversations with friends. Other days, I watch mindless “What I Eat In A Day” or “What I Carry In My Gym Bag” YouTube videos on the couch with a bag of chocolate chips. No cookies, just the chips.

Moderation.

It’s a delicate balance

You can sense when your mental health needs a news break. Common signs include a change in appetite and sleeping patterns, as well as a disinterest in social engagements, usual hobbies, and anything outside your home. You’d rather stay in your safe place, on the couch, and close yourself off to the world.

How do we master the balance of reading the news, staying informed, and maintaining our mental health? Moderation. We do both — but with more good than bad, more light than dark.

I practiced social media moderation by unfollowing certain accounts, the ones that behave like parrots repeating the news all damn day. I read the news once already today for fuck’s sake…now I gotta hear it from you, too?

For every account I unfollowed, I followed two in its place to breathe new life into my feed. These new accounts strictly focus on comfort food recipes, nature scenes, cute puppies, hygge culture…you know, the good things in life. No mention of the news.

A blind eye versus a step back

Far too often, we confuse taking a step back with turning a blind eye. Just because I shared a photo of my birthday cake on Instagram doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten or lost interest in our societal issues.

According to Discover Magazine, we have approximately 70,000 thoughts per day — 3,000 per hour.

It’s perfectly within our cerebral wheelhouse to think about police brutality and the new Seattle Kraken NHL team (pretty cool name, no?) and our next meal and coronavirus and that unread email and the weather and George Floyd and our daily horoscope and Taylor Swift’s new album and hand sanitizer and thousands of other things.

Is it so bad if we post a makeup selfie instead of a protest march?

Is it so bad if we watch Hell’s Kitchen instead of the news?

Is it so bad if we talk about Kanye West’s meltdown instead of COVID?

Absolutely not, as long as it’s in moderation.

Time to break free

So, what are we to do when dark overtakes light, yin overpowers yang, and water drowns out fire? Firstly, get some perspective by pulling up your window blinds and taking a walk outside. You immediately notice that the news does not mirror your direct surroundings.

When Fox News dubbed Portland a “war zone,” which I addressed in a previous article, I biked to the grocery store by myself just to prove that life here retained normalcy to some degree—not a motherfucking war zone with bombs, helicopters, and police on every block.

It just goes to show how the media blows events out of proportion and thrives on overexaggerated headlines that reflect 1% of the BLM protests. The remaining 99% remain peaceful…but you never see that on the news.

Secondly, limit your screentime with this useful lil’ iPhone trick. Go into your Settings, click on Screen Time, click on App Limits, and turn it on. Select all your social media apps and set them under a time limit. I have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram locked on 1-hour a day limit and it’s saved me a ton of emotional distress.

I touched on this earlier but a third tip is to unfollow certain accounts and follow two new ones in its place. Unsubscribe to accounts that amplify the news and replace them with Insta-famous pets, meme feeds like @girlsmeettheinternet and self-care feeds like @myselflovesupply.

And just like that, the world becomes a brighter, more positive place.