Hi Kate
While being sensitive can be a blessing in so many ways, sometimes it can appear as what feels like a curse. To feel so much for so many is a beautiful thing until you begin to feel their sufferance. Kate, you sound like such a beautiful highly sensitive person. The world is truly blessed to have you in it. My heart goes out to you as you work so hard to manage the 'curse' side of sensitivity.
I've found over the years, in my efforts to manage not re-entering into depression, feelings play a major factor. As sensitive people, we'll feel/sense so much. We can feel what we hear, what we see, our internal dialogue (good or bad), what we imagine in our mind and so much more. We can feel music, certain colours, the sounds of nature and when there's too much going on at once. For a sensitive person, to be almost constantly feeling, things can get pretty exhausting. As they say, emotion is energy in motion throughout the body. With a lot of energy systems (vascular, endocrine, neurlogical etc) we can end up feeling over all exhaustion.
If there's one thing that'll trigger just about every system/channel of energy into hyperactivity it's the news. 'Leading news stories' takes on a whole different meaning when you consider life's a little like 'Follow the leader' at times. If we follow the news, it'll typically lead us to stress, hopelessness, anger, frustration, sufferance etc. The news, in general, is depressing and stressful. In the world of media, depressing and stressful get the most ratings, which helps explain the heavy focus on such things. Just look at the covid frenzy when it first started in the media. It was all about fear, sickness, death, sufferance and numbers. Day in and day out, this is largely how we were led by the media.
As a 51yo gal, my mum actually filters the news for me. I don't get her to watch it or read the paper, she simply delivers to me what she sees and reads. I actually try to encourage her to have less to do with this kind of stuff, for her mental/emotional well being. I manage through basically being kept up to date. For me, basic means there must be little emotion in what I'm hearing unless it's constructive emotion. I don't want to hear about the kind of stuff I can do absolutely nothing about. Hopelessness and helplessness are major triggers. The media can be productive at times, leading us to complete intolerance. It's through such intolerance that changes come about.
How does the news lead you to feel? Drained?
