To Be a Writer, Do I Have to Let in All the News and Social Media?

I want to stay relevant, but is it harming my mental health?

Art by Casandra Banuelos from Mixkit

My husband won’t talk to me anymore about the coronavirus.

“The news isn’t good for my mental health,” he says. And while that statement reminds me of the media fasts people attempted after Trump got elected — and the privilege involved in that willful ignorance — in this case, he’s not hurting anybody.

We’re under a Stay-at-Home order in Washington State, for another month at least. We’re already fully on board with #StayHome, so why do we need to keep up with case counts and mask efficacy statistics?

“Why stress ourselves out more?” he asks, as I wonder aloud if this crisis will persuade anti-vaxx folks to reconsider vaccines. “There are just too many factors here. No matter how much we learn, we can’t predict the future. It’s unknowable.”

I know he’s right. But, personally, I’m ingesting more news than ever.

I can’t quit listening to NPR or Democracy Now!, can’t quit reading The New York Times’ daily Coronavirus Briefing. I can’t get off Medium, or Twitter, or Facebook. I tell myself it’s my job to keep up, because I’m a writer. Maybe media silence would be good for my mental health, but if I want my…