For the past couple of years, I’ve had several clients present with a common cause of anxiety: the news.

It’s not surprising that, given our polarized political climate, when we open the News app on our phones, we see conflict and bickering among those in power. It’s also not surprising that, given the trend of 24/7 news, we are bombarded with images of violence, war, and the worst of human depravity on an hourly—sometimes minute-by-minute—basis. Add in the accessibility to all of this information (headline alerts on our mobile devices, in our social media feeds, etc) and it’s a recipe for a whirlwind of anxiety, whether we’re purposely checking the news or not.

Are your mind and heart racing as you read this? Because mine definitely are as I write this!

The question that my clients and I have grappled with is this: how do we stay informed citizens for the purpose of making decisions that will influence our world for the better without paying the price of our mental and emotional health?

I’ve struggled with anxiety from news-overload myself, so the following tips are things I’ve tried myself, as well as things that I’ve learned from my clients—who often are the best teachers!

1. Remove headline notifications from mobile devices. For me personally, this was so helpful! Not only did I find my heart rate accelerating and my mood darkening when a negative headline popped up on my phone, but I found myself distracted from the task I was in the middle of by the headline. I would be reaching for my phone to make a call or respond to a text, and then be drawn in by the most recent headline, which would then lead me to check the rest of the headlines, and before I knew it, I’d forgotten why I’d picked up my phone in the first place! When the headlines aren’t so readily available to me, not only am I not distracted from what I’m doing, but also my inner Anxiety Monster is not fed.
2. Choose a time and an amount of time to check and read news. Because of all of the crazy in the world, it makes sense that we want to stay informed in order to make decisions about who we elect, laws that are passed, what’s new regarding particular issues we care about, etc. It can be helpful to select a time of the day to read the news and catch up on the things we care about. For me, this is my lunch hour. I find that eating my lunch while listening to the news keeps me informed without distracting me from my work or interfering with my off-hours free time (which I’d rather spend relaxing and enjoying myself!). I know several people who subscribe to the newsletter, theSkimm – a newsletter that breaks down the most crucial news of the day. I’ve personally not subscribed to theSkimm, mostly because I don’t want one more thing in my email inbox, but they’re also on social media, so I might give following them a shot!
3. Purge social media – be ruthless! This has also been a huge help for me and for so many of my clients. Remember when Facebook was about reconnecting with your BFF from kindergarten and sharing funny cat videos? Somehow, it’s become a tool to announce exactly where we stand on all the issues and to berate, judge, criticize (insert other negative verb here) those who disagree with us. It’s become a tool to spread what we believe without having to listen to or dialogue with anyone who disagrees with us. Not only is this discouraging and hard on relationships, sharing information without the chance to really, truly dialogue face-to-face gets us nowhere in coming together to solve the major problems of our world. The great thing about Facebook is that you can “unfollow” someone without “unfriending” them! So, that friend from high school who has the cutest babies, but posts political stuff that makes your blood boil on a daily basis? Unfollow! Then, when you’re experiencing baby-picture withdrawal, or want to see what she’s been up to, you can visit her page without the negative headlines she’s posting popping up in your newsfeed. It’s truly a beautiful thing! Something else to keep in mind: sometimes the people who you agree with can cause anxiety through what they post. Again, unfollow! The next time something happens related to whatever issue it is you both feel passionate about (climate change, reproductive rights, gun laws, etc) and you want to see what their take is, you can visit their page. The point is we don’t have to be bombarded by headlines on a platform if we don’t want to. We have the ability to see what we want and to not see what we don’t want on social media. Thankfully, Facebook’s “unfollow” feature makes this possible!
4. Get involved. I’ve been so inspired by people I know who feel passionately about an issue and decide to get involved with a local group, organization, political candidate, etc who also feels passionately about the cause. Not only are these folks doing something to help advance the cause they believe in, but volunteering actually reduces the feeling of powerlessness over the issue! Maybe their candidate loses or the law they want to pass gets voted down, but being able to say they did something gives a sense of purpose and agency, which are powerful combatants to feeling helpless and despondent. Volunteering also provides the opportunity to meet like-minded folks, providing support, hope that others care too and decreasing feelings of loneliness.
5. Remembering that media is also a business. There are times where I’ll see some crazy sounding headline and find myself rolling my eyes – clearly, they’re wanting me to click, regardless if the headline is from a major news source, like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, or a lesser known outlet. Pew Research Center studies how Americans seek out news and information, as well as how media outlets earn revenue and “the resources available to American journalists as they seek to inform the public about important events of the day.” Journalism is important and absolutely essential for numerous reasons, including keeping the public informed and our leaders accountable. Pew Research Center points out that news media is “also very much a business – one whose ability to serve the public is dependent on its ability to attract eyeballs and dollars.” Just like other businesses, there are analytic tools journalists can use to track data on what types of content produces clicks and reader engagement. This data informs journalists about what content sells and who their audience is so that they can tailor their content to that particular audience. The fact that journalists do this for the intention of promoting their content and making money certainly does not mean that their content is automatically inaccurate – it does mean that there’s a chance it may have been especially targeted to show up in your feed for the purpose of making money. Keeping this in mind can remind us that some headlines are designed to pull our attention in, which may make us feel a sense of urgency, like we need to read the article immediately. We can remind ourselves that that important story will still be there later, and we can check it at another time that better suits our needs.

A lot of my clients who have come in feeling anxious about the news usually preface their disclosure of this information with, “I know this sounds crazy, but…” I reassure clients that they are not the only ones who feel anxious reading the news or about certain events going on in the world. The unfortunate truth is that there are scary things in our world, and the news seems to be the one place that showcases it all. The fortunate truth is that we don’t have to let the news ruin our lives, and we can stay informed while preserving our mental and emotional health. If you’d like to hear more about how I work with clients struggling with anxiety, give me a call at (314) 392-2895.

References

A Monteiro. (2017, July 5). How media outlets and journalists can develop their audiences: advice for tracking and growing your metrics. Retrieved from https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-18547-how-media-outlets-and-journalists-can-develop-their-audiences-advice-tracking-and-grow.

State of the news media. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2019 from http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/state-of-the-news-media/.