YES, THE NEWS IS MOSTLY BAD – HERE’S SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE ON HOW TO PREVENT IT AFFECTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!

It’s probably not a surprise that the news can affect our mood (confirmed by several peer-reviewed academic papers between 2020 and this year, but who needed confirmation?)

‘Doom scrolling’ trains your brain to focus on catastrophe. It applies whatever device you're on.

I’m not suggesting that the pandemic (and the recent rise in new forms of coronavirus), the cost-of-living crisis, extreme weather and the effects of climate change, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other global tensions, extremely divisive politics, murdering nurses, criminal police officers, the social and economic threats of AI, and the many other issues we’re currently facing, aren’t life-defining events for many people.

Clearly, they are, and only an idiot would think otherwise.

But we’ll cope with them more effectively, make better judgements for ourselves and our loved ones, and manage our own health more effectively if we have them in proportion.

Most people are aware of all these things and (in some cases) knowledgeable about them, but some are overwhelmed by them.?

The signs that you may need to take better care of your mental processing of these events include the following:

1.?? ?Sleepless nights with invasive negative or angry thoughts.

2.?? Compulsive and addictive focus on social media or screen devices of any type (phone, tablet, computer, TV etc).

3.?? Feelings of (possibly ill-defined) anxiety.

4.?? Invasive negative thoughts throughout the day, and an unusually negative, or even cynical outlook.

5.?? High levels of anger or frustration around news stories and the actions/inaction, or words, of people in the news (political and corporate leaders in particular). A feeling of helplessness as you’re buffeted by ‘big events’.

6.?? A loss of interest in issues outside the news cycle, or outside your social media circle, and a feeling that those who aren’t similarly focused ‘just don’t get it’.?

If you or someone around you is displaying this sort of behaviour there’s advice on how to tackle it.? Getting a friend or loved one to pay attention to this may be challenging, but if they do at least some of these things, it will help.

1.?? ?Turn off social media notifications. Social media hurls negative issues at anyone who focuses on them – often packaged by ignorant commentary from other users, conspiracy theories, and people who introduce divisive politics into things that shouldn’t be defined by party politics.

2.?? Turn off news notifications to avoid clickbait tabloid-style catastrophising.? Certain UK and American news outlets do this consistently.?

3.?? Some therapists suggest a slightly counterintuitive strategy: if news issues really bother you, write down the headlines. Old style – with a pen, on a piece of paper. Supposedly, the act of doing so slows down mental processing and gives you a chance to apply more considered judgment.

4.?? Insist on a no-screens policy at mealtimes, and if you can do it, after your evening meal.

5.?? Instead of simply absorbing news as a passive observer, engage in positive action.? Not as a political campaigner (definitely not that), but maybe raising money for a charity with a sponsored walk, helping out at a soup kitchen, or volunteering for other charity work.? Fill your spare time with something that generates a positive outcome rather than simply soaking up ‘disaster news’ and ‘going to war’ with things that make you angry. Surround yourself with people who are working for the same positive outcome.

One of the issues with social media is that our brains are hardwired to focus on negative issues – a hangover from the days when human survival depended on the early detection of threats. As I’ve said before in these columns, our natures are predisposed to react to events in a way that was appropriate in pre-history, not the 21st Century.

Social media plays on that, and so do some of the conspiracy theorists, and ‘influencers’.

A friend who teaches executives how to handle tough TV interviews tells them not to surround themselves with ‘red thinking’ colleagues who are full of advice on what not to say.

“If you go into a hard TV interview having filled your head with what not to say, the chances are you’ll end up saying quite a bit of it under pressure,” he says.? “Instead of that, fill your head with what you should say … and even under pressure, and with no other training, you’ll get some of that across.”

All of us should adopt some of that attitude, whether we’re being interviewed or not.? There’s plenty of negative news around and we need to be aware of it, but let’s not fill our heads with it to the exclusion of everything else.? Let’s actively seek out the spaces where we can make a positive contribution, and focus our energy as much as possible on that.

Oh, and one other thing.? When you find something to laugh about, focus on that.? Share it with others. Because laughter always has been the best medicine.

Further reading: for those who prefer to see original peer-refereed academic papers, as I do on important topics, there are some good recommendations in this article from the American Psychological Association.