Preserving our Mental Well-being While the World Burns

I, like most other people on the planet, am watching in abject horror as the constant barrage of awful events unfolds before our helpless eyes. I know that this is a much darker start to my blog than usual but, this is a very weird time to be alive. Since 2020, the population of earth has been subjected to non-stop chaos and trauma inducing events. The COVID-19 pandemic, the climatically disastrous fire in the Amazon rainforest, numerous wars, geo-political instability and unpredictability, threats to democracy and human rights, financial insecurity, increasing isolation, and “miscellaneous strangeness” are enough to drive us all the very edges of our sanity. As it is World Mental Health Day on October 10, I chose to focus on sharing a few tips that I have been using to help myself cope with the effects of the 24/7 news cycle and its larger effects on my mental health.

Drawing on the Power of our Social Network of Support

According to the World Health Organization, 16% of people worldwide experience loneliness. This is literally one in every six humans on the planet of 8 billion. It is very widely known that people with greater levels of social connectedness and support have lower rates of physical and mental illnesses, higher rates of longevity and report better quality of life. However, at this bizarre point in human history, people are becoming more siloed than ever. Political persuasions, religious differences and all kinds of other ideological constructs have divided us in ways that have split families and friend groups and created less opportunity for connection among us. This is a major social determinant of health that has serious consequences for individuals and the society as a whole.

As someone who has always prioritized my relationships with others, I know the power of empathic presence in carrying each other through difficult times. My community of friends and emotionally healthy relatives have seen me through some of the darkest days personally and provide a space for me to unburden my soul when I need to. Given the job that I do, I hear a lot of traumatic stories. When I end my day, I turn to my inner circle to help me cope. Those who are therapists themselves allow me to debrief and those who are not provide a space for me to be silly, frustrated or even tearful without judgement or expectation.

I strongly encourage everyone to develop your community of support. As a secular humanist, I have always believed that people are mostly good and, as a person I have seen this to be true. I have had bad experiences with others but mostly, I have found that most people share the same feelings and desires. Black Uhuru, a Jamaican reggae band makes this point in the song Solidarity – “everybody wants the same thing don’t they?…they wanna be somebody’s friend”. Perhaps if we start to see people as more alike than different, it will be easier to connect and harder to dehumanize them.

Limit the Engagement with the 24/7 News Cycle

When I was doing my Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies in the early 2000’s, I encountered the “Mean World Syndrome Theory”. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett explained this phenomenon as “the tendency for heavy TV viewers to believe that the world is a more hostile and unfriendly place than it actually is, to be more afraid of becoming a victim of violent crime, and to be more distrustful of others”. Resisting the urge to “nerd out” and go into what Gerbner, (the developer of the theory), said about this in 1969, I would obviously suggest that it applies to all of us who consume media in all its current forms in 2025.

We live in a time where we get push notifications on our phones from media sources all day and night. This is not a normal state of affairs. We cannot do anything without being bombarded by messages stoking our paranoia and anxiety. This is no way to live. It is not normal to wake up every morning with a sense of dread. It is not healthy to assume that there is threat all around us if we do not live in a literal war zone. Those of us practising in the field of psychology are recognizing disturbing increases in the levels of news related stress and anxiety, (see article from APA here). For us, it is a common conversation to have with our clients to help them set limits around their consumption of news in all its forms as consistent exposure to horrible things often makes us desensitized to suffering for our own survival.

I have personally had to ask trusted others who currently have mental capacity to filter my news for me. As a deep empath, I cannot expose myself to the constant stream of news as it is held in my body. However, as a citizen of the world, I cannot ignore what is happening either. For this reason, I chose to limit my consumption of news to one hour in the morning and possibly one in the evening and NO MORE. If something important happens, I am alerted by those charged with filtering my news for me.

To prioritize our own mental health is not a cop out, it is a mechanism of survival that we need to navigate the reality we live in. It is OK to not immerse yourself in the mayhem, it does not make you weak to say “enough for today”.

Prioritizing Sleep

Scientists have known for a long time that sleep deprivation is linked to poorer mental health. Sleep deprivation can exacerbate anxiety, depression and even compromise cognitive capacity. There is a reason why it is accepted that prolonged sleep deprivation is a form of torture, (see here). Lack of sleep adversely impacts biological processes and is associated with cardiovascular disease, mental health disorders, and other physical illnesses.

Sleep is not a luxury and the ability to function on little sleep is really not the badge of honour that some misguided people think it is. Your brain and body both need sleep. One of the most appropriate quotations I have seen in praise of sleep is from The Nap Ministry which states “rest is resistance”. That statement is true as it directly challenges the expectation of the capitalist machinery that demands that we deprive ourselves of rest in its service.

I have always joked that when I want to sleep, there is no power on earth that will keep my eyes open. I have always been notoriously bad at fighting sleep. I have even said that if I have insomnia, it is time to worry about my health because one thing I have always been able to do is sleep. Until perimenopause, this has been true but that is a whole other post. What I do know is that when I am not rested, I simply do not function optimally. I am irritable, lacking in compassion, unable to adequately problem solve and much slower in cognitive processing. All of this would be consistent with the findings of science so do not feel as though you should push past tiredness. Your body was designed to sleep.

Move Your Body

Science has found that regular exercise has several benefits to health overall generally and mental health in particular, (see the Mayo Clinic’s position here). People struggling with depression and anxiety have reported improvement in symptoms once they start to exercise regularly. When we get outside of our homes to exercise, it brings us into contact with other people which can also help us to develop our social circle. The benefits of that are covered above.

The obvious caution I want to make that abundantly clear though, is that exercise does not CURE depression and anxiety. It is not a substitute for therapy and medication in clinical cases. However, the release of endorphins is helpful in promoting a sense of wellbeing.

As someone with a chronic pain condition, I use exercise as part of my pain management plan. However, long before I developed this issue, I was a regular at my gym in Jamaica and had been going there since 2006. When I winter in Jamaica, I go to that same gym because of the unending camaraderie of the community there. As my trainer in Jamaica would say, his gym is also “part therapist’s office”. He is 100% correct.

Make Time for Fun

The old saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is true. It is easy in the face of all the misery around us to become so immersed in the experience that we feel guilty for enjoying life. However, it is easy to feel guilty for having fun when bills need to be paid, the world is terrible and others have it far worse. In one word, don’t.

In my work with clients, I hear this with an alarming degree of regularity. The idea that the right to leisure time and fun needs to be “earned” is common in post-slavery and post-colonial people. Cristela Alonzo outlined this very well among immigrants in her latest comedy special “Upper Classy”. She spoke about this during her appearance on The Daily Show here (6 minutes in to be exact) – I would encourage everyone to take a look at this entire clip as it points out a lot of what I said before. To quote her, “the biggest form of resistance that I believe in is joy”. As a therapist and someone who embraces joy, I completely endorse her message.

The scientific community has also shown that people who engage in enjoyable leisure activities have better psychological and physical well-being, (see here). This is generalizable across cultures as is evidenced by this article from Harvard which references a study of over 93,000 participants in 16 countries including eastern and western cultures. This longitudinal study of adults over 65 found that having a hobby decreased loneliness, promoted social connection, provided cognitive stimulation and were linked to better mental health. Remember too that not all leisure activities require money. Going to a park, taking a walk, gathering with friends are all free.

We may not be able to fix the world on our own but, we can collectively organize. When we are not doing that, we can turn attention to our own mental health and employ simple things that can augment well-being. Obviously as a therapist I would recommend therapy for everyone but, even for those in therapy it is important to have appropriate coping skills outside the therapy hour.

This World Mental Health Day, I want to wish us all emotional and mental well-being and encourage everyone to focus on prioritizing self.