How often do you look at the news a day? Once, twice, three times, more? For many, the news was the background anthem of the UK lockdowns, the only window into the outside world. Yet with it came a consistently more depressing narrative. The effects of the pandemic, climate change, increased social inequalities are blurted at us in a constant 24-hour news cycle, causing an information overload in world issues. In the online generation, where news can reach us through social media and apps beyond the newspaper and television, people are being exposed to all the negative events in the world more than previous generations ever were. This is creating increased stress, anxiety and feelings of helplessness.
It is important to stay informed on world issues, yet overexposure can paralyse people in anxiety or create the opposite effect of apathy to negative stories. Finding the balance of staying informed, but preventing the news from significantly impact your wellbeing is key to leading a healthy life in the apocalypse 2022. How we maintain our relationship with the news is individual to each of us, but here are some tips to get started on developing a healthier and more mindful relationship with the news.
1. Set exposure times
Try to limit the amount of times you are exposed to the news if possible. Turn off notifications from your news apps and maybe even unfollow some of the news sites you follow on social media. This is so the news does not shock you unexpectedly over the course of the day, but rather you are actively choosing to seek it out when you are in a mental state to do so.
Additionally, you can habitually set a time of the day to check the news. I personally check around lunchtime or dinnertime, as looking in the morning could give me a bad start to the day. Also if you are prone to getting sucked into the bad news vortex as much as I am, you can even set a timer to how much time you want to spend looking at the news.
2. Read with your brain turned on
When you are looking at the news more mindfully it gives you more space to question what you are reading. It means that you can fact check and read multiple perspective to be the informed on your views. As certain news sites (not naming any names *cough* The Sun) are creating misleading headlines to catch your attention to get those clicks. Sometimes certain stories are overexaggerated to get your attention, and knowing that you have the time and skills to inform your opinion can provide more agency over your news viewing.
3. Take news breaks
Actively check in with yourself when reading the news. When it feels like everything is going wrong with the world and is too scary to face, its okay to take a break. Take a weekend off, a week, whatever you need. The information will still be waiting for you when you’re ready to process it. Ultimately to be able to do anything to be able to help some of the issues in society, you need to be in a mental state to do so, so take whatever time you need. Additionally, you can talk to others about how your feeling, as talking through the effects these stories are having on you can help process how you’re feeling.
4. Be proactive
If there is a particular story in the news that especially affects you or makes you angry, see what you can do about it. What actionable steps can you do? Are there any volunteer groups in your area, any petitions, can you fundraise for a particular cause? Taking steps to counteract the negative stream of news to try and make the world a better place is one of the best ways to fight the feelings of hopelessness. However, it is also important to set boundaries with taking action by remembering that you can do something but not everything. Any small difference you can make can make an impact.
5. Seek out good news
As previously mentioned, bad news sells! Putting out dramatic and scary headlines will always guarantee clicks, meaning that good news can fall by the wayside. Therefore, it is important to actively seek out the good in the world. Look for positive stories in your local area, or for world news I recommend sites such as The Happy Newspaper which tells good news stories from around the world. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the bad news, in order to have a healthy relationship with the news we need a balance of the good and bad stories to know that there can be successful, positive change.
Developing a healthy relationship with the news is a key part of maintaining wellbeing in the modern age. Taking control of the narrative and being mindful of the impact the news has on our emotional state allows us greater agency in how we stay informed.