Coping with Today’s Tragedies

• Tell Yourself It’s OK. Being Black and a journalist in America comes with many stressors and responsibilities. Your burdens are real. Your concerns are legitimate. Everything that you’re feeling is warranted. The first step to coping is acceptance and acknowledgment. Despite how strong, capable, and prepared you are, tell yourself it is OK. Go ahead, do it. Say it to yourself, now.

• Connect with Your Network for Support. Research shows that one of the best resources for coping with stressful circumstances is connecting with other journalists. Check-in on one another, regularly. Vent with one another. Pair or group your members up and provide them each with the other’s contact information. Please share what you’ve seen and how it made you feel. The strengthening of these relationships will help us as an organization meet each other’s emotional and professional needs. 

• Write it Out. Write about your feelings and experiences — for you — not for work. Expressing yourself through writing is similar to a therapeutic purge and compartmentalization. Writing can help you process your emotions. Write about how the story/circumstances are personally affecting you. Compiling your reflections could be a great way to archive history for the future. Imagine budding journalists, years from now, accessing your writings as a reflection of the times. Writing it out can lead to a documented legacy. 

• Do Something. If writing isn’t your therapeutic preference, getting up, getting out, and doing something is another great way to help journalists cope with stressors. Finding a way to relax and disconnect from the current events can include physically taxing or even mentally engaging activities. Exercise produces endorphins that improve mood. It also makes you tired and can aid in sleeping regularly. Try something new! There is nothing selfish about dedicating time in your schedule for your well-being. If you aren’t taking care of yourself, how can you take care of anyone else?

• Seek Professional Help. While time has evolved, there is still a misconception of seeing a therapist in the Black community. With more digital opportunities, therapists are even more accessible. The Mind Field (themindfield.org) is an organization dedicated to changing stigmas in minority communities. Some of the therapists also have backgrounds in journalism. There isn’t any shame in getting help from a professional, get the help you need.

• Consult Your Employer. Look into some of the benefits of your employers’ mental health offerings. It is cheaper to offer mental health services than to pay your extended sick leaves. (Talk to your employer and tell them what you need to be effective and to support you when your job’s requirements cause you trauma.)