Don’t believe everything you see and hear

A brief post this week and a change from my planned theme given the current state of affairs regarding Coronavirus / COVID-19.

I won’t mention the ‘C’ word here again but the world, particularly the UK, has gone a little bat-shit crazy over recent weeks, much of it fuelled by the media. So, here is my very simplistic view – don’t believe everything you see on a TV screen or read in a newspaper. The British media benefit from a society living in fear and therefore do everything they can to create such situations. If we live in fear, we watch much more TV news. If there is widespread panic, we buy more newspapers. We like to stay informed, we simply must stay informed, even if the majority of the information fed to us is only partially correct and focuses primarily on the more sensational elements rather than providing a full and balanced appraisal of current events.

Please remember that those balanced appraisals are out there. They are especially prevalent on social media platforms as people fight back against the scaremongers within the media and summarise the situation in a sensible, informed and balanced way. Seek out these summaries, compare them to the mass-media coverage and make up your own minds.

I’m not saying don’t ever watch a TV news broadcast or buy a newspaper again. But please do try to understand all the facts about any situation at any time. Chances are it will enable you to live a reasonably panic-free life and, in doing so, ensure your mental health is in as good a place as it can be. The fear, the sharing of misinformation, the panic-buying – it’s good for no-one.

Thanks for reading, stay calm and, as always (not just during an overblown crisis…), take care.

Mick

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