America Ferrera had her second baby, daughter Lucia Marisol Williams, on May 4th. America and her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, also have son Sebastian, who turns two next week. People Magazine has a segment from America’s upcoming podcast interview with Katie Lowes. I was impressed with how thoughtfully America explained how she’s getting through the days at this time. It was of course super stressful for her to deal with being pregnant and giving birth in the middle of a pandemic. She also had to cut back on how much news she was watching because it was giving her insomnia and making her worry. Here’s what America said and you can listen to that clip on People’s site.
“There’s the anxiety about the [coronavirus] itself which is like, you don’t want to get sick, you don’t want your children to get sick, you don’t want your newborn baby to get sick,” Ferrera, 36, says in the episode.
The new mom of two adds, “I try to stay away from the news cycle because I think you can drive yourself absolutely insane. I just know I have to put up my filters because I don’t have the emotional capacity to let that in.”
“I realized that really early on for me,” says Ferrera. “There’s information you need to know to be informed and unfortunately in this day in age you have to be able to stop yourself and know what’s healthy and know what’s not.”
Adds the actress, “For me, I could feel my heart rate, my anxiety, my blood pressure go up. And also not being able to close my eyes and go to sleep at night because I’m sitting there with all these news stories swirling in my head and just realizing very early on I had to be very disciplined about what I let in because it just doesn’t serve you. Especially in a time where you just don’t need that added stress when you’re pregnant.”
I could definitely identify with this, but I just take it for granted that I can’t watch the news anymore. I don’t think or talk about it to this degree. Of course it drives me crazy to watch MSNBC, to actually see what’s happening and to consider that Trump’s family and band of cronies are racketeering and causing countless more deaths and suffering. It’s totally maddening. I prefer to get my news in print and frankly filtered through Kaiser every day. She calls it like she sees it. My poor mom is still watching MSNBC though and is thinking deeply about these issues. I’ve told her to stop watching it for her mental health. If we’re going to keep fighting these a-holes we have to keep our strength up. Their press conferences and Nazi Barbie spokespeople are trying to break us down and we can’t let them.
America just had her birthday and that was cute:
Yeah, I don’t want news normally and I’m certainly not now. I think my anxiety would be unmanageable. I get my news in print and limit it to a quick check-in every day. I really see my mental health slide when I don’t.
*watch, not “want.”
My husband told me the other day to stop reading the news all day on my phone because I’m having so much anxiety over not just the virus but the evil I see being perpetrated daily by not just the Idiot in Chief but all those who follow him. I get sick to my stomach when I read about people refusing to wear masks and screaming about their rights with no regard for anyone they may infect, people carrying guns and wearing military fatigues into a government building, when I see som protestor holding up a sign that says, “Let the weak die.” The lack of humanity, the complete disrespect and disregard for others is so beyond my comprehension that I find myself sometimes unable to breathe deeply. I wake up with my heart racing. So yeah. She’s right. I get it.
Same. The lack of compassion and intelligence being displayed by our leaders and our fellow citizens has gone beyond horrific into paralyzing for me. Today is the worst I’ve felt for a long time. It’s triggered anxiety and depressive thoughts that I’d hoped I had moved past. I’m not confident we’re going to survive this and I feel guilty that I brought children into this world.
The protestor stuff put me over the edge too. I’ve pretty much stopped all news sources to protect my sanity (and still a lot creeps in).
Same. I’ve really had to limit my social media in addition to the news, just because the random comments I see under news stories horrify me. People making fun of others for saying they don’t think theme parks should open yet; people talking about how they’re tired of living in fear and they’re ready to live their normal lives. It terrifies me, and it saddens me how little these people care about the health and safety of others. It’s like a second realization post-2016 election of just how stupid and selfish so many people are.
I didn’t realize it until I was through it, but in early May I think I was quite depressed. No motivation to work or clean. I couldn’t even decide what show I wanted to watch. I just napped a lot. My friend said she felt similarly the same week. It all catches up to you if you don’t really monitor what you’re exposing yourself to.
I put in for time off Tuesday and Wednesday to extend my long weekend. My boss tried to make me feel bad about it and I brushed it off. I’m so angry that she even tried to sway me from taking time I feel I need. If we have the vacation time and we’re able to take off, take off. Mental health days are so important right now.
I have always had anxiety but never to the degree that I have experienced in the last two months. My symptoms escalated quickly. I had to stop watching the news for the most part. I gave the Calm app a try and it has helped. The sleep stories send me off into a peaceful sleep within minutes. Stressful times. Take care everyone.
I renewed my online New York Times subscription and play a lot of crossword puzzles, if there is breaking news I get an email which I may or may not read. We are practicing social distancing and trying to stay positive for our kids so we limit how much we discuss in front of them. I recommend the plethora of British comedy shows(quiz of the year, countdown,Qi) now on YouTube as well as their competition shows like Pottery Throw down and sewing Bee.
I’m on sick leave and habe kept up with all the news through our national broadcaster. I don’t want the sensationalism spouted by the commercial channels. The national broadcaster has a wealth of information, National and state updates, q and as, resources… They’ve even linked up with the Royal Melbourne Institute Of Technology (University) to provide a fact-check service. It’s a terrible time all over the world, but I like to be informed.
Congrats to her! I also cannot watch the news anymore. I get snippets of it here and on Reddit, also Trevor Noah’s takedowns of Trump are pretty funny. But I can’t watch any of it on TV bc it’s too anxiety inducing. As long as I get the information I need, what’s the use in constantly thinking about the virus?