Help! All This Bad News Makes Me Depressed...
This is how to combat the negative news that bombards us every day!
I came across some research this week that made me think about how our mental health is affected by the ‘News’. I mean, we all know that big scary events like the Covid-19 pandemic & clashes between protestors & police across the US can really bring you down, right? Well, it turns out that it’s not just the big scary ‘headline’ news items that affect us. Psychologists are finding more & more that the constant drip of more ‘normal’ negative news affects us just as much. I guess I should’ve expected this given my background in therapy but it hadn’t occurred to me, especially with the excessive death rate here in the UK, the apparent incompetencies at the heart of government, fly-tipping’s on the rise (what?) …see what I mean?
As always with T.B.Talks, the important thing about all this is just what the hell can you do about it? That’s what today’s all about, so read on.
The sledgehammer option is not to engage with any news at all. Although perhaps a little radical, this could work even though it means disengaging with much of the online & offline social world. ‘News’ turns up pretty much every time you look at a screen or talk to someone, so this can be a bit of an anti-social route to take. Given that at least some socialising is good for your sense of wellbeing, perhaps we need something else.
How does negative News affect us?
The key is in understanding how we react to negative information.
We assess negative news in three key ways.
How dangerous is it?
Does it affect me directly?
What control do I have?
We often think of negative news in terms of terrorism, riots, famine, war & so on. Our brains give these events a lot of credence because they could be lethal (see #1 above). But this is mitigated because we’re rarely caught up in them, so it’s unlikely to affect us directly (#2). This is why warfare or famine in a faraway land feels less stressful than a terrorist attack in the UK, (or whichever country you live in).
This way of assessing risk brings Covid-19 into sharper focus. It explains why the pandemic worries so many people in such a big way. The virus is here, wherever you live (#2) and it’s a potential killer (#1), so it hits home on both scores.
Depending on your situation, you have some control (#3) over your own circumstances such as how you behave, your contact with others, the precautions you take but in the end, you can’t eliminate the risk.
This goes some way to explaining why some people are more afraid of the virus than others. If you’re in a high-risk group, it’s far tougher than if you’re low-risk. There are even different beliefs about the virus itself & how it’s being handled.
Back at the start of this article, I leant on the angle that the pandemic’s being dealt with incompetently in the UK. However, there are plenty of people who think it’s being handled really well & the powers that be are doing the best they can in unprecedented circumstances. There even people who think it’s being blown out of all proportion & isn’t very dangerous at all. These different attitudes create different stress responses and different reactions to the pandemic.
The effect of ‘personal story’ news
Have you noticed how news outlets & even advertising focus on an individual who’s suffering from whatever the story’s about? An actual Mum whose daughter’s fallen ill, a boy who’s father passed away, charity ads for water aid narrating a story about this child fetching dirty water from a contaminated stream: “This is ‘[name]’ she’s just 7 years old and has to walk 5 miles every day just to…”
These narrative tactics make for better news stories because they draw us in, attracted as we are to an individual’s plight rather than a nation’s hardship. The problem is that as we associate more with an individual, our minds feel that it’s closer to us, evoking bigger reactions (which is exactly what the news outlet and advertisers want).
From a mental health perspective though, it dramatically increases how much our mind thinks the event directly affects us. This in turn makes us react even more stressfully to events that in reality are far away.
By making events seem so much more personal, news & advertising are inadvertently boosting our innate stress response.
“…news items don’t need to be extreme or shocking to affect people on an emotional level. People also reported more negative affect when negative news items were personally relevant.”
Everything these days, it seems, has to be made personally relevant. Which is very bad for our mental health.
But what can you do about it?
Knowing how your mind assesses and reacts to negative news gives you more deliberate control over steps you can take to counteract it.
There are three basic effects to strive for that will reduce the impact of negative news.
How much do you expose yourself to negative information
Deliberately consider how much something affects you in real terms, (rather than going with your initial reaction)
Do something that gives you a sense of control.
#1 Reduce your exposure
The extreme version of step 1 is what we talked about upfront; stop consuming news. In practice, this is best done by actively deciding when, where, and how you jump into news consumption. Remember, it’s not just on TV news programs anymore, ‘News’ is everywhere, so you’ve got to be on the lookout.
Watch, listen or read only when you choose and be ready to walk away when you’ve had enough.
#2 Does it affect you?
Spend some time, (either on your own or with someone else), talking through what you’ve just heard. The aim is to deconstruct what’s going on. This way you can work out if it‘s something that’s could come knocking on your door. Or is it just the journalistic presentation that’s making it seem so relevant?
#3 Take action
This comes in several forms
Be in charge of when & where you engage with News. This is you taking action & being in control.
Make time to seek out good news & things that make you smile.
Taking steps to de-stress & relax helps control your reaction to what you’ve seen or read. You can fall back on all the usual suspects for this: nature, exercise, meditation, gardening, sports, hugs, you know the drill.
Do something about it. Sign petitions, start a petition, write to your MP/Senator/Mayor, join a protest, help out at a charity.
Help someone else, just because you can, (if you can). Kindness has been turning up on social media recently and for good reason. As well as giving you a good old dopamine boost, ‘being kind’ is a well-known antidote to stress. It redirects stress-based hormones, (which want to do the old fight or flight thing), and transforms their energy-giving properties into a ‘tend & befriend’ response.
There are plenty of ways to take action, some big, some small. The point is that doing something brings a sense of control to a situation where most of us aren’t in a position to influence the global event. But we can take steps that affect our own lives. And as far as your brain is concerned, that’s what matters.
Always remember:
It’s easy to spot the big scary news items. It’s obvious that we need to self-care through these ones.
It’s the constant drip of small negativities that’s so insidious. It gets under the radar & pulls you down without you realising. These are the ones to watch out for & counteract as & when you can.
What Next?
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