Ok this is about fear and any kind of disaster

[nadinbrzezinski]

Reaching for disaster manager hat

Look folks there are stories that by their nature mean that you feel like you are losing control. Humans crave control, and any unexpected change to your routine will challenge this idea of normalcy and control... this flu story is doing this on a continuous basis not the week or so of most other NATURAL DISASTERS...

We have seen some lashing out here at DU. I get it, this flu story is very scary and inducing of fear. That is normal

If you feel you are losing control turn the story off, for the moment

Yes, you read right. Don't read the threads, don't answer them, filter them. IGNORE THEM.

Turn off your TV

Pick up a book

Reduce your news gathering to CDC... if you need to and at most an hour of this a day on the teeevee machine, MSNBC is quite frankly the best in the US... BBC world news is even better.

Stay aware that this is a moving target, but shut yourself off,

Just remember to wash your hands and take other basic hygiene measures.. which also means you are DOING SOMETHING and gaining some measure of control. Don't scoff, this is basic for the psyche.

This is a way to preserve your mind

Now even if you believe this is hoey, doing something proactive about it, getting that gel for example to carry in the car, will be good, will give you that sense of control back

Hell, that's one reason for those masks down in Mexico...

Oh and local news, panic inducing, I'd avoid them. (Yes yesterday I turned on the local channel and oooh boy I need to send them a piece of my mind) To keep up with your local area, use the web.

[havocmom]

1. Good advice

And much better expression of it than Mr. Nicholson's "YOU CAN'T TAKE THE TRUTH" ;)

Our area doesn't get specific web info. But we are getting some of our 'snow birds' back. Sadly, some have been in Mexico for the winter :hide:

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Then I'd stick to CNBC

It is funny I turned on FOX and I went... OOHHH BOY... you boys trying to get a panic going?

Same with CNN, their scary shit is irresponsible

I wish these people realized that their coverage of Katrina (for 72 hours) which was level headed and just the facts ma'am, not scary music or graphics, is what we need... not that scary shit they're doing


Of course the lets track every ounce of info folks

<--------- and a few others

Are also doing that to keep a sense of control

Difference is I know the damn psychology of it.

When we had to evac people to centers during the flood of 97 in TJ, I remember this old man, he was going out of his mind, then went to a corner and started sobbing. So I gave him a job... to sweep the floor. He was happy as a lark after that. I gave him control

I had the cleanest floor that school had ever seen ever before. He was textbook example of the you cannot handle this shit crowd. Fortunately he went home and found his home and belongings in good shape. And sweeping the floor kept his mind at ease and probably kept the PTSD at bay. Yep simple shit. Funny, years later I met him at a local hanging place, he came to visit family in the States. He actually hugged me and thanked me. He remembered sweeping the floor, and ONLY sweeping the floor... not the fear

[havocmom]

18. As one with a lifelong fight against chronic depression

with acute periods in the mix, I KNOW the power of positive action. Overcome the inertia and DO something is the road to helping yourself, and others.

I have worked many years passing on various coping tactics but the root of them all is : take some action; do something; move forward, especially when you feel you can't move at all.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Good point in a disaster we just see this

express itself acutely

:-)

[MercutioATC]

2. Alternately, just don't be an idiot.

Watch the news, read the papers, stay informed.

Use the good sense you're supposed to have to evaluate the situation without panicking.


Avoiding information because it might upset you is actually a recommended practice now?

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Why I said keep to CDC, and a small dose of news

Some folks cannot handle the immense amount of info out there

It is human psychology

Having the TV 24\7 can induce fear in some folks

[MercutioATC]

7. Unfortunately, you miss the occasional good tidbit when you do that.

It's just my opinion, but the problem isn't that too much information is "scary", it's that too many people are complete ninnys.

Encouraging them to insulate themselves just reinforces the irrational thought processes that are the cause of the problem.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Yeah but there are people who really cannot handle it

It is not healthy for them to have the tv 24\7 period

Realize that the 24\7 is also new

We used to have ONE evening news cast at a national level and one local news cast

Now right now even though people have access to hard news 24\7 we are seeing quite a bit of rumors, whihc is the CDC produced this shit, tin foil hattery you are seeing, not different from the they don't have enough water for all of us here at evacuation center shit we used to have to deal with

We are also seeing the same amount of denial

So I'd say for a minority of people, not sure how large the group is, watching this 24\7 is not advised

Reinforcing, perhaps... but they cannot handle it to begin with

[Matariki]

4. Please - it's LOSING not LOOSING

And you are wrong that the scoffing is actually fear in disguise. People are over reacting.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Read the story about the old man at a evac center in TJ

back in 97, lashing out is textbook to fear

Seen it, I used to do this shit for real

The brave face of scoffing is textbook

Hell, I've seen it so many times it is not even funny

My favorite, during those floods, I am not leaving, the flood will not get that bad... never mind water was up to ankles and rising... fast

[BuyingThyme]

8. It's OVERREACTING no OVER REACTING.

[Matariki]

10. typo, not constant spelling mistake. "loosing" is a pet peeve.

[uppityperson]

14. Huh, and all this time I thought "loosing" was a typo also. Always wondered what a pet peeve looked

like. What is a wild, untamed peeve then? Why is "loosing" a pet one? How did it get domesticated? Was it breeding, or constant handling?

[Matariki]

15. They bite. You don't want one.

funny post.

Spelling something incorrectly every time and a typo are two different things. For some reason, 'loosing' is the pet that peeves me. Or the peeve that pets me.

And I should have run the freaking spell-check on my stupid spelling nazi post. Duh.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. The point is, scoffing is ALSO over-reacting.

Those who are scoffing are ignoring the very real possibilities, and that is just as bad as exaggerating the very real possibilities.

It is not as if there has never been a devastating pandemic before in history.

[Matariki]

9. ps - to be fair

I really wish my coworkers would stay home when they're sick instead behaving as if coming to work sick is somehow heroic and a sign of a superior work ethic.

I'm talking about any sort of bug or flu, not just the current one. Office buildings tend to be little petri dishes, what with the windows that don't open and so forth.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. That would be good public health practice

but our labor laws don't reinforce it

[Matariki]

16. No kidding. Especially in food industry jobs.

I've known waiters who've had to go to work with 100+ fevers or lose their jobs. Don't want to eat at those restaurants.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. In an ideal world

you are sick, you get paid sick leave, PERIOD

That would require changes in US Labor law, at the federal, state and local levels

See right to work states for example, that will never happen if they can help it

[havocmom]

25. Havocdad is good about staying home and resting when ill.

Co-workers cop and attitude and ask him why he is sick so often. He replies it is because THEY won't stay home when THEY are sick.

Yeah, it is a problem.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Afternoon shift

[havocmom]

21. Night shift

:kick:

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Thanks I will do it one more time

[havocmom]

23. Hey, thanks for the good info you bring to us. Especially of late

You are a DU treasure. Hope you get enough rest! Do not want YOU run down right now. :hug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. You welcome I try

what at times is tiring is the poo flinging when info is given

[havocmom]

26. In my old age, I have decided some people are not brave enough to look reality in the face

So much more comfortable to pretend it isn't real.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Some people can't

that nicholson line YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH... is real for some folks

<-------- my brother