Date #25

The Media Diet

You've already been on a partial media diet during this project. If we can liken anything you consume via a screen to food, on the very first date (Role Models) you might have got rid of some junk and started including some yummy nutrients by switching which Instagram accounts you follow, and maybe watching one or two of the films suggested on that page.

Today I want you to consider what other media you could experiment with removing or adding to calm your Cavebrain down. There are two considerations here:

#1 The Media Diet That Tells Cavebrain It Is Safer Than It Thought

So much of what passes for entertainment I have dubbed traumatainment: violence and cruelty dressed up as entertainment. It is not hard to watch four murders a night if you want to. In this diet you experiment with avoiding any violent and gory programmes and films for a set time to see if your Cavebrain feels more at ease.

Listen to this extract from my audiobook Natural Antidepressants which goes into more details about the effect traumatainment has on your brain:

The brainfacts article is here:

http://www.brainfacts.org/Archives/2008/Mirror-Neurons

The article about mirror neurons and horror:

https://thetyee.ca/News/2007/03/02/MirrorNeurons/

#2 The Media Diet That Tells Cavebrain The Tribe Accepts It

This means basically getting rid of any media that triggers a feeling of inferiority.

A few years ago I gave up TV. I still watched DVDs and went to the cinema.

Then we got Netflix and I restarted my TV watching. One of the first programmes I got into was called Lie To Me. Then after a few episodes I realised that the beauty of the female characters led to massive feelings of inferiority in me. The funny thing was that I don't think I would even have noticed the effect this show was having on me had I not had my no-TV diet prior to Netflix entering my home.

What To Do On This Date

Brainstorm any media that leads you to feel either jumpy/anxious or inferior.

Don't forget this includes social media!

Next choose a period of time to cold turkey on that source of stress to Cavebrain. What can you replace it with?

I will have a think and add some ideas to this page. In the meantime, feel free to let me know what works for you as a media replacement.

See what happens!