"When alarming headlines are only a notification away, it"s easy to feel like the world is falling apart in front of you. Getting deeply invested in negative news can tax your mental health and lead to anxiety and depression, which is why understanding its impacts on your psychological health is so important.
Following the news can be depressing or agitating. What"s equally important is acknowledging the impact these negative stories have on your daily life.
According to many psychologists, overexposure to gloomy stories can significantly alter your mood and neural chemistry, making you more likely to develop stress, mental fatigue, depression, and even a sense that your personal life is spinning out of control.
If you have any history of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) you may have an exaggerated reaction. A 2001 study found that some people who simply watched news coverage on 9/11 had PTSD-like symptoms emerge.
Notice the difference between pain and suffering. We can"t avoid pain. When we fight painful events, or in this case disturbing news, we suffer. It is natural to feel like fighting against the facts: "This should not have happened," our suffering minds cry out.
As Byron Katie says "When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time."
Seeing the facts, seeing "what is" does not mean we condone things. It somehow feels like outrage or suffering over "what is" offers some measure of resistance. When we watch disturbing news, we may want to fight or feel anxious or go numb with helplessness. We may tell ourselves the world is a terrible place, and forecast catastrophe. In this state, we become victims of the news."
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