(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kitchen Table Kibitzing: The New Normal [1] ['Alan Singer'] Date: 2026-07-23 I’ve been anticipating when the rising temperatures would precipitate a mass catastrophe and the news out of France this week comes pretty close. Between June 17 and July 2, some 5,700 more deaths than usual which were attributed to the extreme heat. Paris was hit hardest, registering 1,999 deaths. Mortuaries were unable to handle the numbers are had to turn bodies away. In fact, Junes heat wave in Western Europe was the worst ever recorded. Bloomberg reports that the severity of climate change impacts are shocking scientists. The reality of the changing climate is something none of us can escape from. And coupled with the nightmare of daily life here in America, we have an overwhelm of bad news to process and not enough capacity to develop coping mechanisms. Negative news bytes filter into our everyday world no matter how much we might attempt to shut off the news. I received a text the other day from organizers of the No Kings protests asking for input on why turnout for last weekend’s events was so insignificant. I didn’t even realize they were happening. Was that because I’ve tuned out so much or because it was not publicized.enough? Is America experiencing learned helplessness due to the onslaught of negative news. Have we given up? Processing bad news overload involves the same steps involved in coping with grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. And there are strategies to deal with it: Acknowledging your feelings, limiting media intake, connecting with someone you trust, maintaining small routines that leave you feeling more grounded, creating a sense of safety, supporting children, and knowing when to reach out for professional help. In its 2019 article on managing bad news, Psychology Today stresses the importance of community. Few of us can optimally manage terrible news completely on our own, and why would we want to try? As you begin to process the news, think of others who can help support you as you move forward with it. From a friend that you want to text right away to ask if she can pick your children up from school, to a family member who may also be affected by this news, but whom you know will help console you as well, there will be different roles for different people. Medical news will involve researching and assembling a support team as well. Who are these people? They can be your greatest allies. So how do we make the world during this administration more manageable? From a Medium article: understanding what’s going on can reduce overwhelm cutting back on media input can reduce anxiety focusing on where you can positively act and have an impact A Guardian article suggests many of us are experiencing “political depression” – the knowledge that the world is falling apart paired with the “sense that customary forms of political response … are no longer working. In a 2024 LifeStance Health survey 2/3 of respondents acknowledged talking about politics with their therpaists. Therapists reported a growing number of people seeking help for political stress. “The day after the 2024 election, platforms like Zocdoc and Spring Health saw a surge in mental health appointments and new member accounts, Forbes reported.” Studies show political stress takes a very real toll on people’s mental and physical health. In a survey study tracking the health impacts of politics between 2017 and 2020, Kevin Smith, a political scientist, and his colleagues found that political stress was linked to serious fatigue, sleep loss, anger, compulsive behaviors and even suicidal thinking. Young, left-leaning and politically engaged people were hit hardest. Brett Ford, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto who studies stress and emotion, says politics has become a form of chronic stress. “Chronic stressors are large-scale, they don’t have clear endpoints, they feel out of your hands, and they reliably evoke negative emotions,” she said. “Negative emotions are a really consistent predictor of political engagement and action,” says Brett Ford, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. “When people volunteer, donate and protest, positive emotions like compassion, admiration and pride sustain their work, she said, and taking action leads to more feelings of agency, efficacy and alignment with their values. “If we let those emotions be and just allow them, [we can] consider ways of coping that connect us to our community, that help us feel engaged, that help us feel a sense of agency or control,” Ford said. (snip) “Chronic stressors are large-scale, they don’t have clear endpoints, they feel out of your hands, and they reliably evoke negative emotions,” she said. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/23/800074047/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-the-new-normal/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/