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Northeastern University mental health expert Kristen Lee says a constant stream of bad news can sometimes lead to feelings of helplessness, depression, paralytic anxiety and a misunderstanding of the world.
Americans woke up Feb. 24, 2022, to news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. Phones began buzzing around midnight EDT on Oct. 7 as Hamas began to attack Israel. And the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore collapsed around 1:30 a.m. on March 26.
Waking up to bad news — or staying awake to doom scroll — has become a feature of modern life in the age of the 24-hour news cycle.
Northeastern University mental health expert Kristen Lee says this constant stream of bad news can have a “profound impact” on our well-being, sometimes leading to feelings of helplessness, depression, paralytic anxiety and a misunderstanding of the world.
“We are inundated with a lot of information, misinformation and disinformation constantly,” says Lee, a teaching professor in behavioral science within the health care and biotechnology domain at Northeastern. “It can really affect our well-being if we are being misled into a perception that the world is completely on fire.”
Media expert John Wihbey agrees.
“When the news cycle becomes so much more intensive and where it’s no longer even timebound, with social media constantly feeding us, there can be an overall impression that nothing is good in the world, that everything’s overwhelmingly negative,” says Wihbey, associate professor of media innovation and technology. “That’s not always good for our well-being and psychology.”
But what can you do? Just turn off your phones?
Lee says that people should start by recognizing that wanting to be informed is nothing to be ashamed of.
“It’s good to have a pulse on world events and have an understanding of what’s happening,” Lee says.
But she also recommends you vet your sources — “make sure that they’re credible, that they’re well-grounded and reputable,” Lee says — and vet yourself and your media consumption.
Finally, Lee suggests that you protect yourself by looking to spread positive traits within your community. “One protective factor is our ability to engage with integrity, kindness, human reverence and human regard — trying to make a difference,” Lee says. “Those things are actually highly protective for our well-being, both individually and collectively.”
Wihbey noted that many in journalism and psychology are discussing how to combat the effects of the 24-hour barrage of potentially harmful news.
“In the news business it’s always said: ‘If it bleeds it leads,’ which is kind of grim,” Wihbey notes. “But it is the case that negative news tends to get a lot more attention.”
Like Lee, Wihbey also suggests focusing on community — specifically a revival in local, community journalism.
“National and international news is much more conflict-driven, horse race focused,” Wihbey says. “The nationalization of news has been quite detrimental to our identity and democracy.”
But Wihbey notes that technology that enables us to get more news more quickly and more widely has disrupted the news business many times in history — from the invention of the printing press, to the telegraph, to radio, broadcast television, the internet and, now, social media.
He and Lee both advise news consumers to try to keep thinking about the big picture. Yes, they acknowledge, there are challenges in the world — a climate crisis, nuclear threats, over 100 million refugees across the world.
“At the same time, there’s not a year in history where you couldn’t find very worrisome trends,” Wihbey says.
Lee also emphasizes the positive.
“For pretty much any hot-button issue, a lot of times we’ve identified really strong evidence-based solutions, but those things aren’t the sexy things that bring the headlines,” Lee says. “So, I think it behooves all of us to go beyond the hype or what’s being fed to us and to try to get the right information and then get behind those solutions.”