A love of literature helped one woman switch off when an addiction to rolling news threatened to drag her downOnce upon a time, in a distant land, by the sea, there lived a girl who loved a shining rectangle. The girl was foolish, and she believed the rectangle to be wise. Before the sun had fully risen, the girl would consult the rectangle, her hair tangled on her pillow, her eyes gummed together with sleep, and her husband snoring softly beside her. “Oh, rectangle, tell me, ” she would whisper. “What should I be sad about today? And what should I be angry about? Magic rectangle, please bring me all of the bad news in the world, so that I might spend the day twitching, and filled with foreboding!”The girl was me. In the days leading up to 23 March, the day of lockdown, there was much to be sad and angry about. I’d started the year with a growing, queasy awareness that my addiction to rolling news was becoming a problem, and I wanted to do something about it. My mental health was suffering, but I couldn’t blame the internet. It was my fault for filling my head with grumpiness and terror every day before breakfast. Instead of grunting over a long list of why everything was absolutely terrible, perhaps I could start the morning by reading a book? Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/hit-refresh/2020/jul/03/ive-read-35-books-in-lockdown-and-its-done-wonders-for-my-mental-health