Have a Healthier Relationship with the News
BY BETHANY HEITMAN
There are so many positive things about living in a fully-connected world. If you live far from your family, things like social media and FaceTime can make it easy to stay close. Having a phone that’s essentially a mini computer also means you don’t necessarily have to be chained to your desk during the workday. As great as these things are, being so connected all of the time also has a few drawbacks. One of them is that it makes it easy to really get sucked into the news, 24-7.
Photo by Markus Spiske
Hear us out: Being well-informed and knowing what’s going on in the world is important. But if you feel like you can’t ever escape it, your anxiety can go through the roof. And, even if you know it’s not great for your mental health, it can be easy to fall into a doom spiral. Perhaps you start by seeing one newsy tweet, then hop over to Facebook to see if anyone is talking about it, then start Googling to learn more—and before you know it, you’ve spent the entire night consumed with reading bad news (and not even necessarily from the most reliable sources).
The good news is, you can break this habit and build a healthier relationship with the news cycle—without having to ignore it completely! These easy tips will get you there.
Set Boundaries
Are you feeling particularly anxious about stuff that’s going on in your personal life? Then maybe it’s not quite the right time to go on a news binge. Do you need to get to bed early? Don’t aimlessly scroll through Twitter at night catching up on what’s happening in the world. Setting boundaries for yourself can help you manage news-induced anxiety and keep it from getting out of control. Only you will know what the best boundaries are for your needs. One way to figure them out? Think about the times when the news feels most overwhelming to you, then try to set up safeguards to protect you in those moments.
Seek Out Reliable News Sources
It can be tempting to rely on your social media feeds to get your news. But ask yourself this: Is that the most reliable source of information? Instead, consider choosing a few direct news sources that you trust—like nationally recognized newspapers or websites. By going directly to the source, you’ll be better able to trust the information you receive. Plus, you won’t be served up other people’s 120-character opinions, which can often be more aggravating than the news itself.
Carefully Curate Your Feeds
While going to a more reliable news source is great, it won’t stop your social feeds from blasting you with news. But there is a way to start weeding out some of the more inflammatory news posts in your feed. Over the course of a month, hit the hide button on any posts that overwhelm you or feel untrustworthy. You can also immediately close your app when you see posts. See, the social media app you are using wants you to stay engaged. So if they start noticing you are hiding or leaving the app when you see certain content, they’ll stop showing you that stuff as a way of getting you to stay longer.
-Bethany Heitman, Contributer
P.S. Remember that no matter what you're going through right now, you don't have to do it alone! There are others like you in our community, where we interact on a daily basis, fight our demons, share our victories, and watch over each other as friends and accountability partners.
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