By India McCarty
The 24/7 news cycle is keeping us up-to-date on current events, but experts say our brains simply weren’t built for it.
“We’re living in a state of near-constant sympathetic nervous system activation,” Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist at Stanford and author of Dopamine Nation, told Relevant Magazine. “The body interprets relentless bad news as a threat. We don’t even get a chance to reset before the next crisis hits.”
This is by design, according to Dr. Mary McNaughton-Cassill, who studies media and mental health at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She explained that the news industry is built to keep you invested, and the best way to keep you invested is to show you bad news.
“The 24/7 news model is built on outrage,” she said. “Outrage holds attention, which sells ads. But chronic exposure to outrage-based media elevates cortisol levels and promotes hopelessness.”
In a conversation with the Mayo Clinic, clinical psychologist Dr. Adam S. Anderson echoed McNaughton-Cassill’s statements.
“News outlets, and particularly social media, are geared toward showing things wherein the more attention they catch, the more advertising it brings,” he explained. “They’re doing things that will catch people’s attention. You want more people to view.”
Anderson added that we are “wired to look out for things that may be a threat to us,” and “when we are exposed to negative things in the news, it creates an emotional response for us.”
“The more that we engage in that, looking at news-related things, the more likely it may be that we get caught in potentially a negative cycle,” he said.
While we are all guilty of “doom-scrolling” through today’s headlines, this practice is particularly affecting Gen Zers. A study conducted by the Reuters Institute found that young people are actively avoiding consuming the news — almost 43% of young people surveyed said they tried not to look at the news.
“In our research, we’ve found this is one of the primary reasons given for avoiding the news, along with a sense of fatigue and overload,” the study read. “People are fed up with political news, in particular, with people saying there is too much of it. They feel overloaded and bombarded by the amount of coverage, much of it negative.”
Related: Another Study Proves Just How Damaging Screen Time Is On Mental Health
So, how can we avoid getting caught in this negative cycle? Experts recommend resetting your mind and trying to shift focus.
“Consuming bad news all day activates the brain’s stress circuits,” Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist and Christian author, said. “But intentional mental rest — like prayer, silence or Scripture meditation — can help rewire those neural pathways. Your mind isn’t passive. It changes in response to what you give your attention to.”
Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober told CBS News that he recommends “mindfulness exercises,” as well as “spending time with your family [and] getting close to nature” (video via YouTube).
While it is important to stay informed on what’s going on in the world, it’s important to note that news organizations profit off of our heightened attention to bad news and will purposefully show you upsetting headlines. When the news is feeling overwhelming, there’s no harm in putting it down and taking some time to focus on something else.
Read Next: Is Social Media Really Causing the Youth Mental Health Crisis?
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