Beware the 24 hour news cycle

Living in relative seclusion while the world is in crisis, the lure of news media is particularly strong for many of us. Staying up to date can help to ease our anxiety and can be an attempt to try and make sense of things; it also gives us something to focus on.

Unfortunately, with our news being so accessible, and infiltrating most of our social media not to mention conversations, the information saturation can feel inevitable. It can also intensify our experience of potentially stressful and traumatic situations, even if we don't have a direct connection to the event.

Studies have shown links between repeated exposure to distressing news images and intense stress responses. People with 6+ hours of daily news media after the Boston bombings were found to have more acute stress responses than those who had been at or near the event.

The amount of news media we consume can be surprisingly high. Having rolling coverage on in the background, checking websites and social media through the day, and intentionally tuning in to news programs in the evening easily add up to problematic levels of exposure.

At a time where it feels that as if I have less control over my life, this is a powerful piece of information. I have the power to limit how much news I consume and to choose reliable sources over sensationalist ones. I can also choose to spend time on things that remind me that trauma isn't the only thing in our world.