—Sharanya Kannan
Recently, I’ve been avoiding the news.
I haven’t opened the newspaper in over a month. I’ve muted all the political Instagram accounts I follow. When my parents switch on the TV at night, it takes just one “BREAKING NEWS” flashing across the screen in a violently obnoxious shade of red to send me scurrying back to my room to bury my head in a book or a TV show.
Maybe my own (not so great) current mental state has to do with it, but I have increasingly found over the past few months that I am simply unable to deal with the news. When I read that another bad thing has occurred in this world — another tragedy, another forest fire, another coup or a few thousand more cases of the big ‘C’ — my brain simply resorts to shutting down, repressing and moving on. Because, well, what else can I do?
If you can relate to me, you’re not alone.
News flash: research has found that the news is, in fact, terrible for mental health. Many people have reported feeling high levels of anxiety and stress after reading the news. It causes anger and frustration. Some people have trouble sleeping at night. The continuous, endless barrage of information isn’t just overwhelming — it’s emotionally draining and exhausting. It’s not very healthy for the brain to be constantly exposed to negative information. According to research, it activates the brain’s fight or flight response, which releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Frequent triggering of this stress response can lead to physical symptoms like insomnia, blood pressure or migraines. (Yes, this article complaining about negative news is giving you negative news. Oh, the irony.)
Many people are in fact addicted to the news. It makes them sad and anxious, but they endlessly refresh the page on a topic that they know will only leave them feeling more tired than ever. Research points to a phenomenon called “negativity bias”, which causes us to be attracted to negative information because our brain is programmed not to overlook any possible threats.
But why is the news this way? One factor is that there’s simply too much news. We’re being slapped in the face with information at mind-bending speeds. It’s not just the sheer ubiquitousness of news that’s the problem, though. There are the social media accounts that share distressing stories, backed up with visual evidence. And right next to it is a comment section where you’ll find a thousand people pointlessly arguing about who’s right. It’s enough to make anyone’s stress levels skyrocket.
The manner in which the news is reported in another issue. There are the online outlets that profit off clickbaits and catchy headlines. Then there are the news channels on TV blaring sensational headlines and trying to win in a competition of who can scream the loudest. Just the format in which news is presented — not as information, but as a juicy piece of drama — can have adverse effects on our mental well-being.
The media also loves negativity. Who wants to report a warm, uplifting story when you can suck the hope and happiness out of your viewer? Ha! Not when there’s money to be made from the soul-sucking, of course! Due to the aforementioned negativity bias, stories that are miserable just gain more traction.
This is the point where I start to spiral downwards, slipping and sliding from one dilemma to another. Sometimes, I feel like I can’t blame the news for its constant negative coverage. I can continue to live in my happy little bubble where there’s sunshine and rainbows and everyone gets along, but that’s not the real world. The real world has pain and horror and blood and tears. It’s the duty of the media to report the truth as is, and not coat them with sugar. If I can’t handle it, then I should probably just not read it. But then… if the world is that horrible, isn’t it my duty to be informed? After all, I live a comfortable life. I have loving parents, a roof over my head and food at the table. I will never face even a fraction of the struggles I read about on the news. So, shouldn’t I, as a privileged person, just suck it up and read the news without taking it so personally?
But then, again, should I be informed? Yes, to an extent, so I don’t completely miss what’s happening in the world. But do I need to know this depressing statistic? And this refugee crisis and that bloody coup? Reading about these million tears and tragedies only stands as reminder to my helplessness. What can I do? What use is me ‘knowing?’ I feel useless. Helpless. Caught in a cruel game, unable to do anything, unable to look away. All I can do is sink deeper into my own void of despair, and drown in the murky depths of my thoughts. Down there, my brain asks me things like, “Are people inherently bad?” or “Is the world destined to be screwed up forever?”
Even as I write this, I feel guilty. I feel selfish for phrasing all of the world’s issues as a deep personal crisis. My brain tells me I’m overreacting. But if the news makes me feel angry and exhausted, that’s still a valid struggle (or so I try to convince myself).
When I feel overwhelmed by the big problems, I try to remind myself of the small things. I have a sister and TV shows and books and friends and cat pictures. While I might not be able to answer my own conundrum about whether the world is inherently bad, I can assure you there are always videos of cute cats on the internet that you haven’t seen yet.
I remember the small flowers I’ve found in the forest of weeds and I don’t feel like I’m drowning anymore.
There’s a phenomenon that has been building slowly on the periphery — and it’s been slow on purpose. Slow news. Slow news does not aim to break a story as it’s happening. Once the full story has unfolded, slow news outlets such as Delayed Gratification, Aeon, or Narratively will start reporting on them. In doing so, they cut out the sensationalist, dramatic aspects that are so terrible for our mental health. I think this might be a good option for me, at least until I can handle opening the newspaper again.
And you should take breaks, too. I know, it’s our duty to be informed. But it’s also our duty to ourselves and those around us to take care of our mental health. And that means taking breaks when the news gets too overwhelming. Try unfollowing or muting the accounts that make you miserable. And note to self: do not dive into a comment section that you KNOW will make you mad!
Edited by Sadhana NJ
Design by Lakshmi P
Article 19 