If you're like a lot of folks, you're sick and tired of hearing about the coronavirus but at the same time, you're glued to the news about it. Or maybe it's a combination of the coronavirus, a global economy threatened by the possible pandemic, a potential war in the Middle East, and the assorted political nonsense we're currently witnessing that has you saying, "No more!"

There's a loosely coined name for this. It's called "doom fatigue."  Those of us who closely follow current events are the most susceptible to it. And it's very real. These devices that keep us connected to a constant flow of information are great, but that same constant flow can also contribute to a state of overwhelm and mental exhaustion.

What is doom fatigue?

Doom fatigue refers to the feeling of overwhelm a person may get when faced with one negative event after another during a short period of time. When there's a topic that is being constantly reported on – sort of like how every other headline right now has the word "coronavirus" in it – you can feel like a situation is even worse than it really is, simply because it's always right there on the forefront of every website or news broadcast.

Some folks get so sick of it they refuse to read another word about it. They decide, "Forget it. I can't take it anymore. If it kills me, it kills me" and go on their merry way.

That isn't necessarily good either – the whole thing that keeps preppers prepared is our awareness of what's going on in the world and how these events may affect our lives. So to completely write off something as dire as a possible deadly pandemic is as unwise as obsessing over it is.

What can you do to manage doom fatigue?

If coronavirus-related doom fatigue has got you feeling mentally battered and overwhelmed, the following suggestions may help you to get a handle on it while still remaining informed.

Pick your sources.  First things first, decide what sources you are going to trust for information. (Hopefully one of them is this website – go here to subscribe.) Choose 2-3 sources that you find relevant and trustworthy and stop scrolling through the entire internet or going to aggregate sites with headlines from dozens of websites. You don't need to live, breathe, eat, and sleep coronavirus news.

Set a time to check the news. Another problem is when people search for updates all the livelong day. It's exhausting, constantly checking for something new. I should know – I do this because it's my job to do it and some days I just want to go live under a rock – preferably a rock with no wifi. So, decide you're going to read the news for half an hour in the morning and half an hour after work. Set an alarm and stick to your decision. When your timer goes off, get away from the computer and do something else.

Focus on what you can do. With regard to the coronavirus, there's only so much we can do. In part, this is because of our budgets – we can only spend so much money on preps – and part of it is because we're probably not getting accurate information. So focus on what you can do with your allotted money and the available information. Organize your preps, do an inventory, make a list of what you truly need, and add those items as you can. Learn more about boosting your immune system, keep yourself healthy, and use this as an opportunity to see if you have what you need. (This PDF, The Prepper's Book of Lists, can help you get better organized.) I wrote here about preparing for a pandemic and here about what I did specifically to get prepared for the coronavirus. So get prepared, but respect your own limits.