Are you familiar with the musical The Wiz? It is a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz that far predates Wicked. In the musical, the Wicked Witch of the West—who runs a sweatshop and is known as Evillene—tells her underlings,”Don’t nobody bring me no bad news.” (You can watch Mary J. Blige perform the song here. We also recommend the version from the 1978 movie featuring Mabel King.)
As a rule, we don’t agree with the Wicked Witch—at least as she is portrayed in The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz—about much at all. But these days, we are pretty sympathetic to her position that it would be great to avoid receiving bad news day after day.
Right now, every news story online, on television, on the radio, and in newspapers and magazines seems to be about one calamity or another. And taking in all of that bad news can be very, very stressful for just about anyone.
That jolt of increased stress that bad news can bring on is particularly dangerous for a person in recovery from a substance use disorder. That is because stress and anxiety and other emotions the news can inspire can chip away at the foundations of your hard-won sobriety.
But it will not do to simply bury your head in the sand and ignore all of the news in your community, state, country, and beyond. So how can you safely take in the news you need to know without putting your sobriety at risk?
We have some ideas.
A News Budget Can Be as Important as a Financial Budget
Your household budget can help you maintain your financial well-being. By the same token, a news budget can help you maintain your mental well-being.
What is a news budget? Think of it this way.
News of all sorts is available to us every minute of every day. This never-ending onslaught can feel overwhelming, especially if you convince yourself that you need to stay on top of every single development at all times in order to be truly informed.
Our suggestion is that you take a little time to think about which news outlets and other sources of information you truly value. Then prioritize those while limiting others.
Here is an example. Let’s say that you currently listen to a news program on your morning commute, have a series of current event podcasts that play in the background during your workday, scan the headlines during lunch, watch the early local newscast when you get home and the late local newscast as you are getting ready for bed, and then watch one of the 24/7 cable news channels until you fall asleep. Oh, and throughout the day you get notifications on your phone every time there is “breaking news.”
That is a lot of input throughout the day, and much of it is likely to make you feel anxious, angry, sad, or all three.
So what if simply budgeted less time for news? It might look like this:
- You might still listen to a newscast on the way to work—unless you discover that it causes anxiety that upends your ability to get to work.
- You might switch from podcasts to music as your background sound during the day.
- You might use your lunch hour to read a book or chat with a friend or go for a walk (and to eat lunch, of course).
- You might skip the early local newscast as your evening gets underway. Or you might watch the early newscast but skip the late one so it doesn’t rile up your emotions before bed.
- You might turn off the television as you settle into a good sleep routine and avoid cable news altogether.
- Oh, and you absolutely should turn those notifications off on your phone. You don’t have to respond to every bit of breaking news right when an outlet is ready to tell you about it.
Taking these sorts of steps can allow you to stay informed without overwhelming you and putting your sobriety at risk.
Social Media is Often the Wrong Type of Social
One additional note: Many people, perhaps you yourself, take their anxiety about the news straight to their favorite social media platform. Often, that results in online arguments that can get ugly in a hurry—which can contribute to the stress and anxiety you feel about the news.
Having a good social life is an important way to shore up your recovery, but we would strongly advise spending your time with good, supportive friends in real life rather than arguing about the news on social media.
Here Is Some Good News: We Offer Effective Substance Use Disorder Treatment
The Farley Center—located in Williamsburg Place, Virginia—provides personalized treatment for substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders. We are proud of our legacy of recovery, and we work every day to provide evidence-based treatment grounded in expertise, experience, and empathy.
A substance use disorder is nothing but bad news. The good news is that you can reclaim your sobriety and your life. The Farley Center can help you do that.
