Introduction
In my younger days, I was a news junkie. I was checking Twitter and RSS feeds all day long, waiting for the latest scoop on whatever story happened to be trending at that moment. If something big happened in politics or sports (anything with Arab spring, the isis takeover, or the Syrian war ), you could bet that I’d be glued to my phone. But when it came time to take a break from all this information consumption—say, when I was hanging out with friends or enjoying some quality family time—I found myself becoming anxious if someone asked me what happened in the world today. That’s when I realized that being an obsessive news consumer wasn’t healthy for me…or anyone else!
I was once a news junkie.
I was once a news junkie. I used to watch the news every night, check it every morning, and read it all afternoon long. When I wasn’t watching or reading the news, I was thinking about what I would do if there were an emergency (like a fire) or something equally serious happened. The truth is that my obsession with the news made me feel like I was prepared for anything that came my way—which is why it took me so long to realize just how unhealthy my relationship with this information really was.
I treated journalism like I was in an action movie.
The way I treated journalism was like I was in a high-stakes action movie, always on the edge of my seat, always trying to find out what was going to happen next.
In my mind, there were two kinds of people: those who were doing something and those who were not doing something. I wanted to be the one doing things—and nothing else mattered except getting ahead of the competition.
I would read something and feel like I needed to immediately write about it as well or comment on it or tweet about it or share it on Facebook so that other people would see how much smarter I am than they are because they weren’t writing about this story yet either (or at least not as quickly).
I was obsessively checking Twitter.
You could be an avid news reader, but the way you get your news might be a problem.
- Do you check Twitter obsessively?
- Do you feel like there is always something better going on than whatever it is that’s happening in your life right now?
- Does following certain people or accounts make you feel guilty because they seem to always be having such a great time while yours feels dull and boring by comparison?
If the answers are yes, then it’s possible that Twitter has become more of a source of stress and anxiety than an outlet for useful information.
I noticed the effects of news addiction on my physical and mental health.
As I was diving deeper into the world of online news, I noticed the effects on my physical and mental health. I started to feel anxious and restless, which led me to spend more time scrolling through my phone screen than living in the present moment.
It’s not surprising that this kind of behaviour can have a negative impact on your relationships with friends and family members. Instead of paying attention to what people are saying, you may be zoning out as your mind wanders back to Facebook or Twitter feeds—leaving everyone else feeling unimportant or unheard.
When I noticed the effects, I initially wanted to quit cold turkey.
It was easy to get addicted to the news—with so much going on in the world, it’s hard not to want every minute detail. But there are negative mental and physical health consequences that can arise with overconsumption of news. These include:
- Increased stress levels
- Increased anxiety due to constant exposure to stressful situations or violence
- Depression due to feeling helpless in your ability to stop what’s happening around you
- Decreases appetite due to feeling overwhelmed by what you’re seeing (and maybe even disgusted)
Decreases in sleep quality due to worrying about what you’ve seen and the anxiety that comes along with it
In order to get healthier, I realized that quitting cold turkey wasn’t going to work for me.
- You can’t just stop reading the news. This is a major reason why I’ve found that cold turkey doesn’t work for me: quitting news cold turkey is like trying to quit junk food It’s possible, but it’s not a fun process and you probably won’t feel great about yourself in the end.
- The best way to break your news addiction? Start small! For me, this meant adding one more question at a time until I was able to ask myself all three questions every time I felt tempted by my phone or computer screen (or even watching TV). The good thing about starting small is that it makes breaking your habit easier because you’re not changing everything right away—you’re just taking baby steps toward making changes that’ll eventually lead you in the right direction!
So, I came up with this plan to keep myself sane while still getting my news.
- Stop checking the news twice a day.
- Stop posting on social media (or at least limit it). I used to post whatever was on my mind when it came to current events: things that made me angry, things that made me happy, and sometimes just things I found interesting. But after my first week of not checking up on the news as much, I realized how much time this was taking away from me—and how demoralizing it could be if my feed was filled with negativity all day long. So now I only post once or twice per day, and even then only if what’s happening in the world is good enough to share!
- Set a limit on how many times you check yourself on Facebook or Twitter each day (or whatever platform you use). This can be hard because we’re addicted to social media like cigarettes, but as long as you have some sort of self-control over yourself—which means no scrolling through Instagram while waiting for your kids’ school bus (not cool), or maybe even set your phone down a little earlier than usual so that when they get home from school there’s more time spent together instead of working around electronics—then setting these limits isn’t impossible at all!
News addiction has real health impacts, so it’s important to know your limits when it comes to consuming news and information
News addiction is a real thing. Studies have shown that those who consume more news are more likely to be depressed and stressed out, and even suffer from suicidal thoughts.
We’ve all been there: you’re scrolling through Twitter or Facebook, looking for something—anything—to occupy your mind during an otherwise boring day. Suddenly, you find yourself deep in the bowels of YouTube watching videos about how Hillary Clinton is actually a reptilian shapeshifter who will destroy all human life on Earth by December 31st if she’s not stopped! Or maybe it’s an article about how climate change isn’t real because where did dinosaurs go when they died out? Either way, once you start reading or watching these stories, it’s hard to stop until some external force pulls you away (like work).
Conclusion
I hope this post has helped you understand some of the health impacts that news addiction can have on you. If so, I strongly encourage you to do something about it. Quitting cold turkey can be difficult for some people because they’re addicted to their phones or social media and don’t know how else to fill that time. But there are other ways! Checking headlines only twice a day (and not posting on social media) may seem like a small change, but it’ll make a huge difference in how much time you spend consuming news and information each day—and what kind of mental space these things leave behind when they’re done with!
