Consuming News in an Anxious World

A common experience in modern society is a twofold irony: the feeling that we need to keep up with the news and that following the news is extremely stressful and anxiety-provoking. We may believe that it is our responsibility to stay engaged with the world, or perhaps are concerned that others might view us as uninformed. Many of us spend hours each week staying up to date with multiple news sites, the latest podcast, and/or YouTube videos, despite what it could be doing to our mental health.

So how can we strike a balance between being informed about important events in our world and maintaining our mental health? Have you found any strategies to create the right balance? How much news do we need to consume to be “informed enough"? Do we have a responsibility to know about public affairs?

Definitely not required, but for anyone interested, here is a Ted Talk from BBC journalist Hannah Gelbart on how news provokes the flight-or-fight response, along with suggestions on how to consume news more healthily. Also interesting is a short blog by Oliver Burkeman proposing the idea that we can care about political events without having what he terms “hope for a final resolution.”

We hope you can come join us to listen and share your thoughts!