2023 marked a first in my 30-year career… I had to hospitalize someone who was severely overwhelmed from viewing the news. The young woman told me she impulsively overdosed on pills after listening to a podcast and watching videos on social media, because she had become panicky, hopeless, frustrated, and angry about the “political climate” in the U.S. Of course, there were other background issues going on as well; but her hyperfocus on a specific news event had pushed her over the edge.
Like many people, I was raised to believe that it is important to be informed about the news and is a part of being a good citizen. But the news is no longer delivered in the way it used to be and our central nervous systems were not designed to take in today’s 24/7 news cycle in all its forms -- whether it be from reading a newspaper, social media, videos, or audio clips. In this article, I will explore the relationship between the news and mental health, and then suggest ways to take care of yourself.
The ways you get your news affect your mental health
Most of us now view our news stories through digital platforms such as news websites, search engines, social media, or podcasts. Consider that if you view news on a social media platform, you will see the most shocking versions of the news because that is what performs the best for the algorithms. Oftentimes, the story has a video attached to it, which can trigger emotional stress (such as anxiety, anger, sadness) and physical signs of discomfort and pain (for example, tightness in jaw or sinking feeling in the stomach). Furthermore, it can be triggering to read someone else’s opinion in the article’s comments if you strongly disagree with what they are saying or you find their statements hurtful in some way. Not only do you have the direct reactions to the stories themselves to deal with, but you also have to handle your reactions to other people’s responses to the stories.
While impactful stories have always been a cornerstone of “the news,” seeing dramatic representations of events each time you log on can be quite damaging because it has the effect of hijacking your thoughts and emotions. Crashes, explosions, murders, and earthquakes taking place in other regions of the world, while critical and dramatic in that locale, do not generally have the dangerous impact on you as an individual that the news companies make them out to have. There are notable exceptions when a localized occurrence has implications to the world at large, such as Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the global economic consequences; but the bulk of what the daily news reports on does not truly fit into this category.
Another factor to consider is that through certain common reporting methods, the trauma in our culture is repeatedly triggered, which reinforces people’s responses of numbness, helplessness, and indifference or hyperactivation, stress, fear, and anger. A study in 2013 by the National Academy of Sciences of America regarding the Boston marathon bombing found that people who watched the bombing through their personal devices were more traumatized than the people who were at the actual event. A 2015 study showed that if you watch just 3 minutes of negative news in the morning, you will be 27% less happy in the afternoon. So, media companies’ efforts to get more clicks are, in many ways, creating a collective health burden.
Suddenly your personal worries feel more dangerous and less manageable
In human psyches, we have a response factor called the “negativity bias” that can come into play when bombarded with something like an inflation of negative news. We appear to be neurologically wired to pay attention to bad news, based upon Darwin’s evolutionary theory that the brain’s survival mechanisms cause it to disregard non-threatening occurrences while it scans for threats. So, to that part of the brain, ignoring the daily news might seem like a bigger risk than paying too much attention to it, because the news represents a potential “threat” to be aware of to ensure survival. However, the consequence of giving the news too much attention is that you are more likely to view neutral things more negatively – to perceive things through the negative bias. This may lead you to view your personal problems with a heightened sense of stress or danger, causing you to feel increased worry and distress. Or the opposite, your response might be to shut down by minimizing or not caring sufficiently about your own issues and concerns.
You find little to feel positive about
When all you see is negative news, it’s easy to conclude the world is a terrible place, you are in imminent danger, and everything that could go wrong is going wrong. However, since drama and shock factors really help the media networks gain clicks and views, the companies are not invested in presenting you with a balance of positive news. So, it’s no wonder you may feel as though there is no positivity in the world… You’re simply not being exposed to it.
So, what’s the solution?
When you seek news just for the sake of collecting mental knowledge, that’s not really “being informed” in a truly useful way and you run the risk of absorbing the fear and stress of other people in the process. “Being informed” is useful if the information is actionable and can be applied to beneficial steps you can take. It is my opinion that authentic information also creates values such as compassion, caring, and love with which one can potentially engage with life and society in a meaningful way. When I feel personally connected to something, I care about it. If I don’t feel that connection, then I am distanced or dissociated from it.
I am not advocating ignorance or denial, but I don’t believe the sensationalism is worth buying into. It causes people to drink from a fire hose of collective trauma and melodrama, and you and I may need to turn off the fire hose in the ways that we can on a personal level. This past summer I took two months off from the news. During that time, I was able to be more present with family and friends, to be in nature, to go deeper with creative projects and meditation, and to use my time and energy to focus on what is in my power to contribute to the world. Life felt a lot lighter to me, like I was wearing a loose garment by letting the world and its problems take care of themselves. When the two months ended, the world was still standing and, unsurprisingly, the same problems were still there; but I was rested and prepared to contribute what I can.
As news consumers, we have control over what we take in, if we make an active effort to manage our choices and habits. No matter what you choose, remember that each person has a different threshold of what they can handle regarding sensationalized news – what works for one person may not work for another. For the sake of your mental well-being, it is a necessity to find what your personal parameters are and respect your own limits. Ultimately, this means paying attention to your own needs and putting personal agency back into your life.
You can take steps to adjust what you receive information about and in what ways by doing the following:
Perform a complete “news-response audit”: Stop all news apps, breaking news alerts, social media, pop-ups, Google news feed, and the like for a weekend just to see what you notice in yourself.
Use social media with a clear intention: It would be difficult to be on social media and not follow the latest, hottest news (whatever falls into that category for you). So, if you decide to go on it, be clear about what you are looking for and stick to those reasons without getting sidetracked.
Give yourself a regular break: Plan times to disconnect from the news and social media, such as when on vacation or as a part of every weekend.
Set time limits on your exposure: If you feel inclined to follow the news every day, set a limit of 5-10 minutes maximum. Ideally, do not access the news first thing in the morning or right before going to sleep, as this directly affects the quality of your day and your sleep, respectively.
Limit the scope of what you are exposed to: If you read a paper copy of a newspaper, you will have more control over what you read and how fast the headlines “hit” you. Also, consider that it’s easy to get caught up in global stories and forget that what happens locally outside your own door generally affects you more directly than what is happening in the nation or the world. A local newspaper might be a better choice for actionable information.
Be selective about the quality and balanced perspectives of your sources of news: Consider reading long forms of journalism such as magazines, audio books, in-depth interviews, and documentaries, in which the topics are discussed fully rather than as dramatic sound bites. Another strategy is to access media companies with reputations for more-balanced reporting, such as the American-based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and international sources such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Taking care of your psyche as we move forward collectively
Keep in mind that as we enter the 2024 election year, we are going to be faced with an increase in dramatic, sensationalized reporting that could be dysregulating to you personally. If you start to feel overwhelmed by daily poll figures, so-called breaking news, and catastrophic opinions and predictions (which may or may not even be accurate or relevant), you have options and can set limits that let you access the news on your own terms. In this digital era, that requires some effort and perseverance in regard to maintaining a healthy news diet, but we all deserve to live our lives at a sustainable, natural pace.
