Media: OFF! Mental Health: ON!

Mental Illnesses. Oh, what interesting presences they are in the lives of we who have them.

If you have a mental health condition, you may or may not know what caused it. Were you born with it? Did it develop – or start to come into its own – in high school? College? After your second child was born? When you lost the big promotion you just knew you were going to get?

Some of us attribute chemical imbalances to our mental health problems. Others claim environmental factors were either too difficult – or too constant – for us to bear.

Most of us, however, can confidently say our poor mental health is a result of both – wacked out brain chemicals and environmental factors.

Aside from our home and family lives – which are probably the number one environmental factors that contribute to mental illnesses – I feel the media plays a strong role in shaping our thought processes, emotions and moods, and even how we deal with what’s going on outside our minds and out in the world.

Stop and think about all the media forms you come into contact with every day:

• Television (shows, movies, commercials, infomercials, music videos, news, etc.)
• Radio (news, music, commercials, interviews, etc.)
• Newspapers (advertisements, local and word reports, etc.)
• The Internet/Websites (blogs, social networking sites, TV/radio/news home pages, etc.)

And some of us even carry around nifty little gadgets such as iPhones and Blackberries so we can get news updates and then send out emails and make phone calls to ensure everyone else is up-to-date, too.

Talk about an information overload!

I understand your need to stay current. I watch the news with my morning cup of coffee. I frequent a variety of websites dedicated to mental health news stories. I even check digg and reddit for scoop before I begin my work day.

There is, however, a fine line between staying current and becoming obsessed. I had to find that line the hard way. There are no instructions for it, really.

I just finally realized I could no longer focus on every murdered pregnant woman, every missing child, every starving country, and every tortured animal anymore and expect to keep any sense of sanity.

I could no longer become invested in reality shows with the goal of showing us how easy it is for a 19-year-old child with blond hair, blue eyes, perky assets, five-mile long legs, and porcelain skin can lose those pesky extra five pounds with liposuction.

I could no longer worry myself to the point of tears over the problems of every other person on the face of this planet, as well as all the problems someone – or something – else convinces me I have.

I didn’t become cruel, or apathetic, or self-absorbed. I just found the line, and while I can’t get you to your media and information overload breaking point, I can offer you some tips on how to redirect the worry and stress the overload causes.

Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out Have You Fallen For These 7 Negative Attitudes Pushed By The Media?