You can read a list of news article titles and not go deep.

I log out when I start feeling helpless and high anxiety and then I go find things that I can control to feel less helpless/anxious.

I vaccilate between “Eh, world and my life were always a mess, we could do with a do-over” and “holy shit holy shit holy shit is that a nuke in the distance?”. Multiple times daily. Shit’s exhausting.

It’s not always the same over time. Currently, I read Lemmy and occasionally tagesschau.de (recently less, want to more again).

Web and text means I can scroll and read what I want, without dwelling to much on it (like video news, intro then video then expert interview or worse). I can skim, or read comment interpretation or summarization. I can comment and discuss.

I have this account for general, and a different on programming.dev. When I open that one I see no or few politics (that kind at least). Etc.

I avoid getting political news from social media, including Lemmy. I don’t subscribe to any political communities. Once in a while I’ll scroll through all active posts to find new communities. But when I do that I know I’m going to run into political stuff and skip over it.

While most of the political posts on both Reddit and Lemmy lean the same way politically as I do, they can often be sensationalized so I have a general distrust of those stories. If something does happen to grab my attention I try to look it up from a reputable news source.

I use Apple News to track current events. I even pay out money for their “News+”. It aggregates many news sources. I can block sources I don’t want to see, and more importantly I can add a list of favorites news sources for quick viewing and to encourage those sources to take priority in my feed. As for my sources I try to pick the most boring and bland news organizations available. Think PBS, NPR, Reuters, etc.

Nothings perfect but this has been working for me for over a year now. I feel reasonably well informed without a lot of the drama.

Apple News isn’t perfect. I still get pushed a lot of celebrity gossip news no matter how many times I click “suggest less”.

I’ve finally made the choice and filtered trump posts, it took a while to figure out how Eternity does it.

I still watch Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel.

For me I disassociate. I know the people around me by and large love and/or care for me and if shit hit the fan I’m fine.

The news is just entertainment. I love watching the news. I love politics. Sometimes it’s surreal and scary but in no ways do I feel worried. I worry for those around me because they may not be able to protect themselves due to age or capacity but then that’s why I’m there if required.

I have subscribed to about a dozen daily news e-mails. I skim through them for half an hour every morning with my first coffee. Once time is up, delete the rest & move on w my day. Only exception is I do make a point to make sure I’ve read at least 1 liberal & 1 conservative viewpoint.

I stop reading when my brain starts hurting.

I actually had this issue months ago, I kept seeing everything on Instagram regarding a particular major problem. Seeing the deaths of innocents and the governments cheering it on just made me angry, moody, anxious and an immense hate towards humanity in general.

I was also jobless in these months (glad got work now) and that made it worse.

Eventually I heavily restricted myself;

• Only 30 mins of scroll in Instagram, checking the news and such.
• No talks about politics for at least a month.
• Read more books to dive in.
• Play fun games (Mario Wonder, Captain Toad Tracker, Mario kart and Catherine Full Body).

Got a job now but I still keep most of the things I restricted myself. Despite everything, I’m in a much better mindset than before.

Lemmy is my line. Have one account just for politics, and another with everything but - that way I can control my exposure.

I mostly read headlines but not articles. This is so that I can send emails to a family member who voted for this shit again. I throw in a one-liner that sarcastically alludes to the terrible story and a link with the headline in the subject. I’m super pissed that my mother voted for this asshole (again), so if the story is about dismantling the education dept, my comment would be: “Your grandkids go to a private school, so they’re fine. Sucks to be a poor kid!”

Honestly, if I wasn’t screaming at her (via email, not literally), I’d probably have to avoid altogether. But I believe it’s necessary that she read about every possible terrible thing she invoked with her vote. Or, maybe more realistically, I’m just that mad at her even if she’ll never change. Our relationship is likely over.

There isn’t a line, you are either informed or not.

If you care more about the illusion of mental health more than your life or reality then bury your head in the sand.

I wish there was a way to stay informed without the rage-bait delivery methods

I draw the line at whiskey/beer. I need both in order to watch the evening news. I won’t engage with socials until properly lubricated by both.

“This is fine.” (meme)