Feeling Anxious With the News? It’s Okay to Take a Break

News no longer ‘filters out.’ It comes pouring in, causing anxiety and an overbearing sense of sadness.

After spending another day in the newsroom getting minute-to-minute updates on the strikes, the counter strikes, the capture of an Indian Air Force pilot and the subsequent release on social media of disturbing videos, I left work with a pall of gloom hanging on my head. The mind still swirling with the information overload, I went straight to pick up four kids, including my 9-year-old, from their music school.

With a half distracted mind, listening to the four cracking jokes and giggling and basically being kids, I decided to unload on them. I shot off a series of questions and half-baked information at them. The rest of the journey was quite. I had successfully passed on my gloom to the four kids who had entered the car quite happy and hopeful.

There is a pervasive gloom that you see around you. News no longer ‘filters out.’ It comes pouring in. It floods into buses, trains, offices, schools, hospitals, playgrounds, dinner tables – all through a small smart device. With constant pinging of information, what’s real and what’s fake no longer matters. It’s inside your brain now and it festers.

There is enough and more research on the correlation between bingeing on news and mental health. It’s difficult to shake off this constant feeling of anxiety when all you are reading about and hearing about is gloom and doom.

Time magazine had reported a survey done by the American Psychological Association in 2018.

More than half of those surveyed said news caused them stress, anxiety, fatigue or loss of sleep.

Despite this, 1 in 10 adults surveyed said they check the news every hour, and 20 percent reported constantly monitoring their social media feeds.

Experts point out to the way news is now consumed compared to say even a decade ago. If Kargil War was our first televised live war, the air strikes and the consequent response has been our first social media ‘conflict reporting.’ And even when some journalist-led organisations may show restraint in what they show and tell, social media shows no such ethics. So, graphic video and audio clips are shared, almost with some sense of glee, on Twitter, Facebook, and family Whatsapp groups – the same ones that flood your timeline with good morning messages and health tips.

Excessive and explicit coverage of news can surely affect the minds of the vulnerable, particularly those suffering from anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic disorder and depression.

Dr Sameer Malhotra, Director, Dept. of Mental Health, Max Hospitals 

Negative News Causes Anxiety, Sadness

In a research published in the British Journal of Psychology, the study focused on the negative impact of news. Those participants who were shown negative news reported increases in both anxiousness and sad mood, and also showed ‘a significant increase in the tendency to catastrophise a personal worry.’ The news was impacting how they were viewing worries that had little to do with the news.

There’s more.

The impact is not just limited to your mental health. Stories that create a sense of panic lead to the release of cortisol, the stress hormone that in turn impacts your immune system. Your body goes into a state of chronic stress. High level of cortisol is also linked to poor digestion, impaired growth hormones and generally exposes you to a range of illnesses.

So How Do You Take Care of Yourself?

Experts say each individual is different.

It’s important to distance yourself if you find that you are not able to handle the situation. It’s important to recognise and accept the differing reactions that each person can have. We should encourage them to find their own individualised ways to responding and finding support systems that can help them cope effectively.

Dr Kamna Chhibber

Step away. Limit your intake of the news cycle to perhaps twice a day. Look for news from credible sources and not social sharing platforms. Refrain from forwarding news that doesn’t sound authentic. And reach out to loved ones for warmth and support.

Also know that this generalised feeling of anxiety is temporary. It will lift soon.

A study was conducted among London residents shortly after the 7/7 terror attacks in 2005. Thirty-three percent of respondents reported significant increase in stress levels. Seven months later, a follow up study found that stress levels had significantly reduced. It doesn’t mean that worry had vanished and that the events did change people’s worldview. A similar story emerged in New York after 9/11.

But what is distressing is this study – that says more time spent watching the TV coverage of 9/11 attacks was linked to increased levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.