xenoqueer:

scottfriday:

searching for that fine line between “i need to stay informed” and “i can’t take any more of this.”

Pick the latter. Always pick the latter.

I realize how absurd, even unnatural that sounds. Your reflex response is probably something like, “but then how will I {various terms for maintaining positive self image}?”

But here’s the thing. 

You have almost certainly been conditioned to stretch yourself way past what is actually mentally healthy.

The fact that you’re even thinking about needing a break is a surefire sign that you do need a break. That instinct to ask the question is pretty much all you’re going to get (unless you’re a cis, straight, white, abled man worth over 100 million dollars). Anything else has probably been crushed out of you by the pressures of living in this world, and the worst way to find out you should have been listening to that nagging voice that said “take a break” is by having a nervous breakdown because you physically cannot handle the stress anymore.

 We’re taught from day one not to recognize our own stress, and not to deal with it. Suppression is the only thing most of us ever get the chance to learn. Everything else is written off as being needy, or not caring enough about other people, or just not being good enough. 

In much the same way that “diet culture” convinces people that they aren’t actually hungry until they’re on the verge of passing out, a culture of being expected to serve others before ourselves convinces us that we’re not actually stressed until we start having random emotional boilovers at the sound of a door closing too loudly across the hall.

And one of the first signs of stress overload is memory problems. The kind that leave you feeling like no matter what you do, you can’t quite process everything and remember the important bits, so you just overcompensate and look for more, and more, and more.

Take the break.

What you need to worry about, basically always, is yourself.

You are the only person who can ever actually put your needs first all the time. No one else can be expected to, so it is of absolutely critical importance that you do it.

Once you break out of the pattern of obsession and actually recover, you can return to politics, or social media, or what the fuck ever with a clearer head, and be more productive and more comfortable.

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TMR