16
Wednesday, April 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DEVICES: Constant
news checking
breeds anxiety
Continued from page 3
the brain mostly oper-
ates from a fight-or-flight
response mode. It <seeks
out quick fixes to feelings
of anxiety,= according to
Price.
For example, your rational
brain might think meditation,
prayer, or exercise sounds
like a good idea. Price said,
<Your more primitive brain
is like, »That sounds hard.
Why don9t I just have a
drink?9 Our brains are going
to seek out rewards, some-
thing that will trigger the
brain to release the chemical
dopamine.=
Dopamine produces a
temporary feeling of good-
ness, a mini-high. Common
<quick fixes= for dopamine
rewards include alcohol,
tobacco, and drugs. Most
people understand that these
substances cause health prob-
lems and can lead to seri-
ous addictions that destroy
lives.
<Alcohol and drugs
most definitely activate
t r i g g e r d o p a m i n e c i r-
cuitry in your brain,= said
Price.
<Interestingly, the news
does too,= she said, <because
novelty is a really big dopa-
mine trigger. So every time
you check the news and
find something new waiting
for you 4 which you will,
every single time, because
it9s the news! 4 your brain
is going to release a little bit
of dopamine.=
On a quick-fix level,
that dopamine hit makes
us want to repeat the
behavior. It doesn9t mat-
ter if the news is unhelp-
ful or makes you stressed
out or breeds even more
anxiety.
Price said, <Your brain
does not care. It9s just like,
»Oh, I got a hit of that new
stuff. I9m going to do it
again.9=
Today9s newsfeeds and
social media apps are built
by designers and engineers
trained in provoking that
dopamine response. Interface
design elements 4 scroll-
ing and <pulling= the bot-
tom of a phone to refresh the
screen 4 work in tandem
with content algorithms to
keep users coming back.
This produces more adver-
tising revenue for media
companies.
Price believes it makes
sense that we would try to
relieve our anxiety by turn-
ing to the news.
<We9re hoping to find
answers,= she said. <We9re
hoping they9re going to tell
us the pandemic is slowing
down, a vaccine has been
discovered, or that a com-
mon throat lozenge is the
cure.=
Looking for a concrete
answer and not finding it
causes more anxiety. This is
<sending our rational brains
even further under that rock,=
according to Price.
To crawl out and start
feeling better, people can use
solid techniques for reduc-
ing device and news engage-
ment. (See <Seven Steps to
Sanity,= page 17.) Upcoming
issues of The Nugget will
feature special advice for
families and kids who are
sheltering in place.
HOUSING: Habitat
will build six
townhomes
Continued from page 3
the process. Habitat requires
that families receiving
homes put in 200 hours of
<sweat equity= working on
building Habitat homes or
in support roles helping the
organization.
<We have selected fami-
lies, but they haven9t hit that
threshold yet,= Weed said.
Hall noted that all six
townhomes will be also be
Earth Advantage Platinum
certified, resulting in low
utility expenses for the
owners.
The process of applying
for LIFT funding delayed
the start of construction,
which has been further
impeded by the shutdown
associated with the battle
against COVID-19.
The shutdown has
severely impacted Habitat9s
operations, particularly
impacting its Thrift Store
and ReStore, which provide
key revenue for Habitat9s
work.
<It9s horrible,= Weed
said. <Our stores are closed,
our revenue streams have
dried up. Maybe when we9re
getting ready to come out of
this, we9ll be ready to break
ground over there.=
Gypsy
Wind
Clothing
Good News in Tough Times…
WE ARE EXPANDING & MOVING!
We are working hard at getting the new space ready
for our unveiling and will reopen as soon as possible!
NEW ADDRESS: 183 E. HOOD AVE., SISTERS
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Sisters is taking the mandate to stay home seriously. Sisters was
eerily quiet in last weekend’s snow showers.
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Maintaining appropriate distance
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Call your community
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Vicki or Patti Jo, to
discuss promoting
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Sat. & Sun., 12-3 p.m., 4-8:30 p.m.
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online with Highland Baptist Church
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