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Nowadays, we often don't have a working relationship with our medical doctors—they are busy with electronic billing as soon as they enter the examination room1—but we do have the internet to get all the information we need. Or think we need.
There we can find what we want to know and worry ourselves to death with it. Or annoy the expert who tried to save our life and is now being questioned by a dilettante. What is the alternative? Trust the doctor and hope for the best? Is it prudent to trust sheepishly? Is it naïve to think that all experts keep up with the newest research and are immune against the pushes of the for-profit pharmaceutical companies?
This is but one example of how we get into a frenzy due to information overload. Apparently, the issue is complex and cannot be brushed aside with a one-size-fits-all approach that you hear in the locker-room: “Just don’t pay attention to X, Y, and Z.”
Millions are suffering from high anxiety in an OMG culture that knows too much here and too little there. We are bombarded and alarmed, agonized and paralyzed. Even the brightest of the brightest lose their cool about something, from the imminent invasion of too artificially intelligent robots to the horrors of the evil political opposition. The end, so it seems from the left, right, and center, is near.
On the world stage or in our living rooms, we suffer from catastrophic thinking as we cannot see through, sort out, and keep in perspective the unprecedented abundance of information. Not even the most ignorant can escape drowning in information when the supermarket aisle is filled with a million types of tomato sauce. Happiness is evading over-thinkers, concerned citizens and consumers. OMG. Almost everybody!
By the way, you might think that catastrophic thinking is necessary during a real catastrophe but this is usually not so. Catastrophic thinking is dysfunctional thinking which does not catapult us into prompt, constructive action. Instead of becoming wide-eyed for the whole, we become hyper-focused on selected details.
Whether you personally suffer from catastrophic thinking or just a sense of overwhelm from too much information, consider pausing. The world is not going to come to an end. Because real threats to life and Earth exist, be an engaged, responsible citizen who cares. Be deliberate as you do what you can. However, stop short of driving yourself insane. How? As aforementioned, there is no easy answer to the new normal of modern life, so you will have to choose the right remedy. I’d like to share five tips here:
ONE: RADICAL RESTRICTION
If you are at a point of mental exhaustion or have serious psychological symptoms, completely stop watching or reading about what upsets you. If shopping overwhelms you, stop buying anything that needs research. Take a vacation from your obsessions (stolen from “What about Bob?”).
TWO: SELECTIVE RESTRICTION
Curtail your exposure to information when it robs you of meaningful relaxation or causes you to be agitated, confused or righteous. Decide how much time you will spend with the media; too much media will cause not only anxiety but loneliness too. Just make sure that you do not select in such a way that all your beliefs are confirmed, which is a common solution to information overload that leads to other problems.
Also, be selective with whom you like to discuss serious matters. For example, as a mother of three, I have learned that supposedly well-informed parents and teachers try to relieve their own worry by passing it on to others. Protect yourself from the herd of well-meaning OMG types.
THREE: WISE RESTRICTION
Ask yourself if knowing something is worth it as you consider your personal situation, including your subjective well-being. Weigh the pros and cons. For example, must you know every detail of your kid’s life? Parents know much more about their offspring than ever before. Is it helpful or will it merely drive you crazy? Another example: do you need to test everything that is testable? Who is benefitting and why? Does a test make a difference? You might want to restrict knowledge if it does not improve or protect life.
FOUR: ACCEPT AND MANAGE
There is no turning back: We can simplify all we want, life will remain complex and much of the available data is, in fact, useful. Accept the new times while also keeping the realm of thought in perspective. Truth can only be approximated with thought, so do not believe in data as if it were a god.
We miss and always will miss details and context so let us not pretend that we can know anything exhaustively. Content yourself with "good enough." Managing knowledge entails keeping a healthy distance from it. So, don’t believe everything you think and do not forget to relax as nothing much is truly under anybody’s control (see the article "What, You Worry?").
FIVE: LAUGH AT YOURSELF
Once you have noticed that you have allowed information to wreak havoc in your mind, make sure to laugh at yourself. Life is a miracle, and most people on their death bed do not think about little things. Instead, they think of this miracle and how much they loved (in) it. It is funny how easy it is to forget what truly matters. When you finally do remember, your all-too-human fascination with the relatively trivial world of information will fade away and make space for love and happiness once more.
© 2019 Andrea F. Polard, PsyD. All Rights Reserved.
References
1) Making Sense Pod Show with Sam Harris and Eric Topol: Medical Intelligence.
