Step Away From the Screen.

So — as you’re aware — the Western world is apparently, for the second time this week, on the brink of imploding. You’ve probably spent at least an hour recently scrolling through your news feed(s) of choice. You might’ve even closed one news source, only to go and open another. It’s all over the family groupchat. One concerned relative has already tagged you in a Facebook post titled ‘what to do if a nuclear bomb is dropped’ (or maybe that last one was just my nan).

Sure, instant news coverage is vital to our safety, keeping us well-informed as a crisis unfolds. Free, accessible press might be the cornerstone to democracy — but my blood pressure is starting to resemble the numbers of Russian casualties. During 24/7 coverage of a global crisis, it’s important to sometimes take a step back and check in with yourself.

The link between news-watching and anxiety is nothing new. The recent pandemic saw a global increase in levels of anxiety and depression. This has largely been blamed upon social isolation in lockdown, but the impact of on-demand, uber-consumable news media has played a huge — and often overlooked — role.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder is defined as a general, constant worry around everyday life: “People with generalized anxiety disorder worry excessively and constantly about everything going on in their lives, and they find it very difficult to control this worry,” explains Dr. Olivia Remes. Recently, the Guardian has published advice on how to calm children's’ anxieties around Ukraine; the CDC also found it necessary to publish advice on coping with Covid stress.

The last three years have been drenched in newsreels of pandemics, nuclear war and rising costs of living: the line between “everyday life” and “global crisis” has become increasingly blurred.

There are two major factors to how constant news consumption damages mental health. The first centres around the contents of the news itself. The second shows how a negative spiral can develop, as we attempt to alleviate psychological fears — only to dig ourselves deeper into a stagnant ditch of anxiety.

Firstly: how the layout of news we watch makes a difference. Licensed psychologist Logan Jones, PsyD, explains how “unfortunately, a lot of the news we consume today isn’t so much reporting as it is a way of keeping people addicted to the news cycle”.

This is a reference to the unfortunate reality of today’s media landscape: clicks draw money. There are financial incentives to over-sensationalization. Direct advertisement, affiliate links, job listings and subscriptions are all forms of revenue generation for news outlets. Every single revenue stream directly correlates to the number of views the article receives.

Sensationalization is a means to an end, and you & I stand in the crossfire of this monetisation strategy. High consumption of over-dramatic headlines and articles only lead to even higher doses of stress hormones. Right now, reading up on nuclear bomb responses isn’t education — it’s indulging in catastrophic thinking.

The American Psychological Association conducts a yearly report on anxiety levels across the US. In the 2019 report, adults in the U.S. experienced the highest amounts of stress about politics, healthcare, and mass shootings. It also saw a sustained increase of average stress levels from 4.9 to 5.1.

“Around 3 in 5 Gen Z adults (61%) and millennials (60%) [say] they want to stay informed but that following the news causes them stress, while more than half of Gen Xers (55%) and half of Boomers (50%) express the same sentiment”.

This generational trend follows that of news consumption, as younger people receive more of their news from third-party sources on social media such as Twitter — where misleading or contradictory information can be more rampant.

Whereas the first element of headline anxiety stems from the tone of news content, the second element is behavioural. In a global crisis, the vast majority of us have no control over the situation. Binge-watching news coverage is an understandable reaction to this loss of control: by constant overconsumption, we feel we are able to do something — if only just to ‘stay in the loop’.

Every bomb dropped generates yet another aggressive headline; conflict on the other side of the world causes a release of cortisol and adrenaline in your brain as you latch onto every ‘breaking update’.

Furthermore, the ever-rising stakes pose an even greater risk to the anxious brain: what might happen if you look away? When you’re hooked on 24/7 coverage, a vacuum of information can seem just as terrifying a prospect.

This is a compounding spiral of anxiety — as the headlines keep rolling, the brain continues to flood the body with stress hormones. A survey of 2,000 Americans discovered the reality for many of us worldwide: 68% cited the news — and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter — as significant causes of anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The physical consequences of this over-consumption is a cocktail of symptoms such as headache, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.

So, how can you protect yourself?

First of all: this is a good start! You’ve spent the last few minutes reading something that isn’t a ‘breaking news’ update. I’m proud.

Reading — not about current affairs — is a proven method to help take your mind off stressful situations. So is exercise, and listening to music.

Anxiety and depression both make us feel powerless in our day to day lives. Fight this by dropping the news feeds and doing what you love.

Reach out to your friends or family; engross yourself in your passion projects; remind yourself of the important things in your own life. Protesting and political organisation were reactions to the election of Donald Trump in 2016, and became a legitimate coping mechanism for some.

Have a look at how and when you reach for your news ‘hit’. If it’s on your bookmarks bar, consider removing it. If you receive automatic updates on your phone from a news app, then disabling notifications — or outright deleting the app — can help considerably. Social media algorithms make this harder, so consider muting some hashtags, or even creating a burner account.

Make an effort to watch the news consciously. Don’t have it on in the background. If you’re the type that benefits from structure, then scheduling time to get up-to-date can be immensely useful. Experts have found that consuming TV news for over 14 minutes a day has negative impacts on your overall mood, so even a timer in the background can be useful for your browsing habits.

With these tips in mind, go forward and unplug yourself — even just for an evening. It’s ok to look away, I promise.