Mental Health
Six Tips to Filter Noise for Keeping Sanity in These Enigmatic Times
It is possible to shift our perspectives for a more creative, productive, resourceful, and healthier life despite the current economic climate
Purpose and Inspiration of the Article
If you are overwhelmed and feeling anxious, pessimistic, and hopeless, you are not alone. Millions of people are in the same situation, evident by the flooding of information in the media. For example, according to National Health Institute (NIH), “nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness.
The media paints a gloomy picture of society from an economic angle affecting people’s psychology and mental health globally. Some concerns are valid as seen in facts, yet most are dramatized and presented out of proportion and in a biased way.
By acknowledging the situation, I aim to provide an alternative perspective to look at the situation differently. It might lead to better utilization of our physical and mental resources. This is not the first recession I have experienced in my lifetime. Many people my age taste it multiple times.
I recently posted an article about positive psychology. Interestingly, some readers were unaware of this formal branch of psychology and did not know about the accumulating knowledge in the field aiming to empower people.
Some readers asked why positive psychology has not been widespread. Instead, most of us focus on negative events, thoughts, and emotions, increasing our stress, anxiety, and depression, making the collective situation worse.
With this inspiration, I provide my perspectives and offer practical tips that readers might customize to maintain creativity, productivity, and physical/mental health. This post is not health or professional advice. I penned this piece for information, inspiration, and awareness purposes.
An Overview of the Current Situation
Current economic and health situations are gloomy globally. All countries face these challenges. Even most developed countries struggle with the economy, and citizens suffer from physical and mental health issues.
The recent pandemic fueled this situation. Media, especially news on TV, the Internet, and newspapers are full of disturbing news. Most thought leaders are also pessimistic and predict the situation will get worse. The tendency is more diversion than convergence for common goals.
I don’t undermine or deny the economic facts and do not certainly act like Pollyanna. Like millions of people, I also lost significant income, even from my hard-earned dollars in retirement funds. But I don’t allow this situation to affect my health and well-being as it is pointless.
Worst of all, fake news and unnecessary dramas confusing people increased significantly. Moreover, opportunist scammers started to take advantage of this chaotic situation putting millions of people in vulnerable positions. I shared my perspectives on YouTube ads adversely affecting millions which seriously concerns me.
Constantly consuming these types of news and gloomy messages from influencers or dramatic journalists puts the average consumer in a psychologically disadvantaged position. Even healthier people get sick when they focus too much on negative news.
Or course, learning about essential developments in our countries or in the world is important. However, consuming too much pessimistic and biased information that we cannot do anything about can be detrimental to our physical and mental health.
Besides, they adversely affect our creativity and productivity. Unfortunately, these types of news and misleading information cause scarcity or a hostile mindset, even creating a hoarding culture in some countries. Stocking toilet paper is a famous example.
You might ask what we can do. I believe we have options within our control. However, there are many things beyond our control. Accepting what we cannot control and focusing on what we can control is essential at the highest level. There is no point in worrying about matters beyond our control.
First, we need to filter information.
Why does filtering matter, and how can we do it?
Our brains allocate most of their resources to what we focus on and pay attention to. Thoughts can quickly turn into emotions and feelings affecting our behavior.
For example, if we focus on adverse events and situations, the brain generates more worries and concerns, turning into anxiety. On the other hand, if we focus on uplifting and joyful events, the brain will generate positive thoughts leading to pleasant emotions.
Our neocortex (thinking brain) is the primary part of filtering external stimuli. The other regions, like the limbic system and primitive brain, are affected by what we feed our minds. The subconscious mind records every piece of input as memories.
One of the approaches to filtering is not to consume unnecessary content in the first place. For example, it is our choice not to watch, listen to, or read disturbing news and misleading information. We have the option.
Another approach is to customize the consumption of information. For example, if we need to learn about specific domains, we can only subscribe to relevant information sources. So, instead of randomly consuming information, we can watch, listen to, or read the relevant content.
Our relationships with others also stimulate our minds. The thoughts and emotions of other people can significantly affect our psyche. Similar to information consumption, we can also choose the type of people we want to interact with daily.
As what we consume as information and who we deal with can significantly impact our psychology, we need to find ways to filter them.
A specific part of the brain, called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), works as a filtering tool. I explained it in an article titled Here’s Why I See RAS as the Secret to Accomplish Dreams with Less Effort.
Learning how to leverage RAS can be beneficial in using the necessary and desired resources of our brains. In my opinion and from my experience, leveraging the power of RAS can lower anxiety and bring joy to life.
Practical Tips to Keep Sanity and Live a Joyful Life
1- Be a problem solver
The problems of the world and individuals will never end. It is impossible to erase the issues. This is the most crucial knowledge construct that we need to be conscious of and accept.
Since problems never end, we need problem-solving skills. I explained and highlighted the importance of problem-solving in an article titled Here’s Why Problem Solving Is the Most Valuable Skill of the Century.
An effective way to be a good problem solver is to see problems as challenges and opportunities rather than burdens. Each problem has a solution and might bring opportunities to our lives. For example, I have earned my living by solving my clients’ problems for decades.
A practical and established approach to problem-solving is to observe, plan, analyze, filter, build, execute, and maintain. This high-level perspective and approach helped me and many others solve problems effectively.
2 — Distinguish between facts and opinions
Everyone has his or her opinion. There is nothing wrong with having different opinions. We have an opinion of ourselves that might align or not with others.
However, listening to or reading everyone’s opinion can put us in a tricky situation. We might get paralyzed. Our opinion of ourselves is more important than the opinion of others for us.
Most of the time, people present opinions mixed with facts. Therefore, we need to focus on facts and pay less attention to opinions unless they are valuable and serve a purpose.
3 — Reduce traditional or social media consumption or filter as much as possible.
Social media is attractive, yet it is a double-edged sword. Unfortunately, its benefits outweigh its harm to our psyche. Therefore, we need to use these tools very carefully.
From my observations, a majority of content is fake and produced by millions of fake accounts or bots for various reprehensible purposes. Of course, there is some useful or helpful information, but it is minimal.
Therefore, digital minimalism is valuable philosophy to follow in these challenging times. Many creative and productive people use this approach.
Traditional media is more filtered, but it also comes with bias which might not serve our needs. Therefore, we need to consume any type of media carefully and consciously.
I regularly perform social media fasting to keep my sanity, as I discussed in an article titled Why Social Media Fast Was the Best Decision for My Mental Health.
Spending media time in nature and with loved ones can be much more beneficial for physical and mental health.
4 — Start and end the day with gratitude.
Gratitude is an invaluable feeling. Its effects on the brain are noticeable. Therefore mental health professionals use gratitude journals as an intervention and therapeutic tool for healing or preventing health disorders.
When we are grateful, negative feelings disappear, or their effects diminish. For example, we feel less angry, anxious, jealous, or guilty when we feel gratitude intentionally. When we live with gratitude, the body and the mind work in a better balance.
Gratitude practice grounds us and shows our purpose in life. Knowing our privileges and reminding us about blessings can prime our brains to generate positive thoughts and reduce anxiety.
We can practice gratitude in numerous ways. We can recite them as a mantra, record them, or write them in words, short phrases, or bullet points. Expressive writing has a calming effect on the brain.
Starting and ending the day with gratitude and counting our blessings is a valuable practice of positive psychology. Thus adding conscious appreciation to our morning and evening routines can bring us many psychological benefits.
5 — Calm and activate the mind with meditation or other mindfulness practices daily.
Stress and anxiety mainly start in mind. Our focus on the past and future is the leading cause of feeling stressed, anxious, or remorseful all the time.
Unless we live in the moment, the primitive part of the brain will continue to manufacture problems for the sake of survival. For example, thinking about the past might trigger guilt, shame, or regret.
Mindfulness practices, especially meditation, are an excellent way to live in the moment and train the brain to focus on what really matters in our lives. From my experience, meditation is one of the best tools to filter external and internal stimuli.
There are numerous ways to meditate. Some meditation methods and mindfulness practices work better for different people. From my experience, meditation is simply to focus on a single thing, such as breathing, and keep our attention to reduce the effects of flooding thoughts.
Thoughts come and go. We cannot stop the occurrence of thoughts, but we can make use of them. Accepting valuable thoughts as ideas and letting the useless ones go is an excellent filtering method.
Acting mindfully at all times can ground us. Furthermore, a meditative position sends signals to the brain to slow down and reduce anxiety-generating thoughts.
Regular meditation can regulate our emotions and contribute to cognitive flexibility, emotional intelligence, mastery, and maturity, even in a few minutes daily. I keep my sanity by meditating three times a day for decades.
Meditation can even affect our genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters making epigenetic effects, as I explained in this article titled Here’s How Meditation Can Impact Our Genes and Neurotransmitters.
6 — Meet the fundamental needs of the body and mind.
I left this point to the end as it is the most comprehensive and critical aspect of health and well-being.
Unless we get restorative sleep, consume nutritious food, move the body, and get adequate rest and fun, it can be tough to deal with the challenges of our lives.
When we lack one or more of these fundamentals, we lack energy and have low moods, making problem-solving and decision-making more difficult. The body simply cannot create and allocate the necessary resources to deal with the stress of events and situations.
Despite the conditions and challenges of our daily lives, we must always pay attention to these fundamentals. Depriving of these needs of the body and mind can put us in a vulnerable position.
We consume wrong information and make bad decisions when we don’t sleep enough, eat well, work out, rest, and have fun. Unfortunately, some people sacrifice these fundamental human needs to earn more money or fame, causing severe health issues.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Life is full of problems, and they will never end. Setbacks are non-discriminatory. They visit everyone, rich, poor, male, female, young, or old, in different amounts, frequencies, shapes, and forms.
Stoic philosophers have identified them and created practical solutions to address them. Recognizing setbacks, keeping them in the proper perspective, and seeing them as problems to be solved can give us breathing space and empower us to address them timely, creatively, and productively.
Even though the world economy is currently in a difficult position, there is nothing new or extraordinary about it despite dramatization in the media. We have always had these problems throughout history.
Worrying too much and constantly regurgitating issues can harm our health and well-being. However, focusing on what we can control and paying attention to solving problems within our capacity and capability can put us in a better position physically and psychologically.
Understanding and acknowledging difficult situations are necessary. However, our optimistic approach toward them can help us use our finite resources more productively.
The low-hanging fruits, in my opinion, are:
1 — Filtering information and using only valuable ones for our needs
2 — Understanding and acknowledging problems but focusing on solutions
3 — Taking personal responsibility for our lives and meeting our fundamental requirements despite challenges
4 — Recognizing our privileges and blessing and living with gratitude daily
5 — Calming the mind with mindfulness practices and regulating our emotions
6 — Working in a flow state to be creative and productive
7 — Attracting loving people to our lives with empathy, compassion, self-love
Tasting joy and being happy with gratitude are possible mentally and can help us keep our sanity despite the challenges surrounding us. As Dalai Lama articulated, “pain in life is inevitable, yet suffering is optional.”
Living with realistic optimism and hope might produce better results than living with pessimism and hopelessness. It might be the reason why optimists live longer than pessimists. Realistic optimism is not toxic positivity.
I’d love your feedback on how you filter information and keep your sanity in these puzzling times. Sharing our thoughts and feeling can give us new perspectives and might be therapeutic.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, you might check out my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis. Here are sample health improvement articles for new readers:
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
If you are a new reader and find this article valuable, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments.
Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers
I write about various hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.
One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.
To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.
Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
If you enjoy writing and storytelling, you can join Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal as a creator to find your voice, reach out to a broad audience, and monetize your content.
You may also check my blog posts about my articles and articles of other writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I share them on my website digitalmehmet.com. Here is my professional bio. You can contact me via weblink.
As a writer, blogger, content developer, and reader, you might join Medium, Vocal Media, NewsBreak, Medium Writing Superstars, Writing Paychecks, WordPress, and Thinkers360 with my referral links. These affiliate links will not cost you extra to join the services.
You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 18K+ writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.
If you enjoy reading, you may join Medium with my referral link for limitless access to my stories and other writers.
