How Not to Lose Your Head in the Constant Stream of Bad News

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Doing your best to keep abreast of current events can often feel subtle in a stream of endless bad news. When information flows to you in all directions, it’s easy to burn out. Compassion and solidarity are important, but being an informed citizen does not mean that you always have to go down with the ship.

How negative news affects you

The 24/7 news loop is like an all-you-can-eat buffet because of our inherent “ negative bias ”. Things that are more negative in nature affect your psychological state more than positive or neutral things. Basically, you are programmed to notice bad things more because your brain is trying to keep you out of harm’s way. You perceive bad news as a threat, so it’s only natural that it stays with you longer than good or neutral news. The world does not fall apart, it just sometimes seems that it is so.

News outlets are very knowledgeable about this. They want to attract readers and viewers, so reporting on the tragedy helps them develop their audience. As rubber-headed drivers on the freeway, we can’t help but watch the accident as we drive by, so the media just says, “Here’s a whole bunch of car accidents worth seeing in one place.” Of course, if we stopped looking, they probably would also stop doing it, but this is their own problem.

Why resist the urge to watch? After all, negative thinking isn’t bad , is it? Well, constant exposure to negative media can increase stress levels and seriously affect your mental health in both the short and long term. Dr. Graham Davy, a psychologist specializing in the aftermath of media violence, explains to the Huffington Post:

Negative news can significantly alter a person’s mood, especially if the newscasts tend to highlight the suffering as well as the emotional components of the story. In particular … negative news can affect your personal experiences. Watching negative news means that you are likely to view your personal experiences as more dangerous and serious, and when you start worrying about them, you are more likely to find that your anxiety is difficult to control and will be more disturbing than usual. …

Davey also suggests that you can become more anxious and pessimistic about the world around you, whether you are approaching tragedy or not. You’ll start to ignore what you’re good at, and over time, that fatigue can make you feel burned out by the world as a whole.

Worse, you can lose compassion completely. ” Compassion fatigue ” is the gradual decrease in compassion caused by secondary traumatic stress. Basically, you are not experiencing the trauma yourself, but through testimony and disturbing images, the horror becomes real in your mind. The internet and media, available 24/7, has made it easier for you to see constant tragedy than ever before, and over time, you may start to care less and less about what is happening to others, not just people, with with which tragedy actually occurs. … You start to assume that this is the world , that only bad things happen, and that you are powerless when it comes to helping others. You are unwilling to act because you think your actions will not help, but the more people think that way, the more difficult it will be to put an end to the terrible events that are so often reported to you. Even in your love life, fatigue can pass over time and your compassion can dry out . Without even knowing it, your discouragement can turn you into a really lousy friend, family member, or significant other because you no longer offer a shoulder to cry.

Focus on what you can control

To shape a more positive outlook on the news, Mary McNaughton-Cassill , professor of clinical psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a leading researcher on the relationship between media consumption and stress, suggests starting by focusing on what you can control :

I tell people that you really need to wake up. You cannot change the outside. You have to gain some control mentally … to understand why you are anxious and anxious about things that probably won’t happen, or by knowing what your triggers are. Consciously focus on the evidence that the news highlights extremes and bad things.

When you see the message of a terrible tragedy, remind yourself that good things are still happening in the world at the same time. This does not have to be done on the front page. It’s not that you shouldn’t care about what’s going on in the world, or that you should convince yourself that what’s going on is not bad. It’s just important to stay calm and realize that you are only shown half of the story.

If you can figure out what your triggers are, it can help you define your own limits for certain types of news posting. Jesse Singhal, Senior Editor at NYMag.com, invites you to think about the types of news that worry you the most and how they affect your stress levels. Bad news rarely makes someone feel good (and shouldn’t), but different types of stories can negatively affect some of us more than others. When you know what bothers you the most, you can do your best not to expose yourself to unnecessary detail.

For example, you find that the news of abductions tires you the most. When you hear about one in the future, you don’t have to ignore or accept it, but you know you don’t have to dig into the gruesome details because it will just confuse you. As McNaughton-Cassill explains to NPR , you have to remind yourself that mastering every detail of the tragedy will not help you survive – it just strains you more. Practice a little self-care and address what bothers you the most so you have the right perspective to shape your news consumption in the future.

Discuss things with friends and family

If you are feeling compassion tired or the recent tragic news spree has baffled you, surround yourself with people you care about. Susan Fletcher, Ph.D., of Scrubs Magazine explains that maintaining a social life is important, even if you don’t feel like it. Spending time with friends or family can help you remember what is good in your world and gives you an opportunity to express your feelings about what is happening. The longer you get it dirty, the longer you will carry it with you.

So get into your support network and start a discussion. Just like with a mini therapy session, you can talk about what’s going on and sort things out together. As K. John Sommerville , author of How News Mutes Us: The Death of Wisdom in the Information Society , suggests in his book, we’d rather spend more time discussing, reflecting, and taking action on major issues than staying on top of every trivial update. For example, the recent shooting in San Bernardino hit me and my friends hard. We all live nearby, so everything seemed much closer to home, although none of us even took part in it. So I invited my friends the next day to enjoy each other’s company, and in the end we talked about what happened, why we thought it happened, and what it all means in the general scheme of things. By the end of the night, we hadn’t forgotten about it (and it shouldn’t be forgotten), but we all felt a little less depressed about it. Sometimes the funk caused by negative news can be avoided by simply speaking out. Just be careful, you don’t shut yourself off from the world and just agree with each other so you can feel better. Say what you want to say and hold your gun so your legitimate discussion doesn’t echo into one person’s position.

Practice self-care and take a news-related vacation

It is nearly impossible to avoid news entirely, but you have much more control over how it is consumed than you might imagine. While it is not necessary (or ideal) to ignore the state of the world, you can take a break from time to time. Alison Holman , interim director of nursing at the University of California, Irvine, recommends avoiding getting hung up on the news for a start. This means watching something else on TV when all the news channels are covering the same tragedy. Change the channel, close your web browser and take a break. Ask yourself, “What do I need to know?” Unless you are nearby or clearly not in danger, you probably do not need to repeat the same eyewitness statements or subject yourself to anchor speculation about something that no one else knows about.

Sean Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage , and Michelle Gilan, author of Broadcasting Happiness , suggest that Harvard Business Review turn off news alerts and take a news break. It’s nice to be “in the know,” but you don’t have to be in the loop every second of every day. The constant bombardment of the pessimistic press through app notifications and emails will only make you know what you probably don’t need to know (another robbery, another car accident) that you would not have heard of otherwise. Unsubscribe from the latest news emails and turn off push notifications in your news apps. If you get the news in your car on your way to work, switch between things and listen to music, other helpful podcasts, or better yet, enjoy the silence and do a little mental preparation. If you think the worst is happening on social media, unsubscribe from the latest Twitter and Facebook accounts, or block some of the worst things without giving it up entirely. If you can handle it, temporarily disconnecting from social media and certain websites is not a bad idea either.

Add some positive news sources

If avoiding all news all the time is a little unrealistic for your lifestyle, you can balance the scales by mixing some positive sources with your usual suffering magnets. Sometimes, just seeing good things being reported can be enough to keep you positive. Here are some sources to add to your feeds or add to your reading rotation:

If you read the news in the morning, positive decision-oriented stories are a great way to start your morning on the right track. If you also want to read your regular sources in the morning, consider placing them between positive sources, or at least end up with something optimistic so that negative materials don’t cling to you all day.

Focus on what you know how to actively do

Bad news shouldn’t only be a source of negativity in your life, it can also be a call to action. Instead of getting discouraged every time something terrible happens, look for ways to get involved and prevent the very news that bothers you from coming up.

Write letters to congressmen and women on how to proceed, donate to relief funds that help victims of tragedies recover, and take time in your schedule to volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to play an active role in making the world a better place , and all it takes is your time. You will feel better about the world and yourself in no time. You will know that good things are still happening in the world because you are one of the countless people who do it. The perceived difference means that the news hasn’t hit you as hard as it used to, but when there are too many of them, you still have other tips to fall back on.

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