News Anxiety

Dear C and Dr. B:

I am anxious and can’t sleep. I obsess over the state of the world and just how bad things have gotten. All I see is death and destruction, inhumanity, and no hope for the future. I went to a therapist and she told me the same thing as my family and nearly everyone else: just turn off the news.  

But if I turn off the news how will I be informed? You touched on this topic in your last column, and it got me thinking –  isn’t it my duty as a citizen to be informed? How will I know who to vote for and what the issues are if I stay away from the news?

– Citizen Stressed

Dr. B says:

Yes, many people say it’s better to not watch the news, but I agree with you – without a grasp of current news, people too easily become apathetic when it comes time to vote.

Anxiety is there to serve a purpose. If it had no evolutionary purpose it would have been weaned out by now. Anxiety is supposed to get us to move, act, do something. Our culture maintains the false expectation that we are meant to be happy. As a result, we have no tolerance for anxiety, so we go numb. This is a mistake; it is the sense of helplessness that makes anxiety unbearable. Maybe there is something you can do: join an activist group, get on the street for a protest. If that doesn’t help, then seek professional counseling.  

Just make sure you choose your news sources wisely. Fox News is just an entertainment channel meant to rile you up, there is no news on it.   

C says:

Some people just can’t handle watching the news. Once they start fretting, they can’t stop. Alcoholics shouldn’t drink and you shouldn’t watch the news – not unless you can get a grip. All you are doing is making yourself miserable, which doesn’t help anyone at all. You are taking this all way too personally and, perhaps, exaggerating your own importance in the grand scheme of things. 

It’s important for all of us to vote and if you are going to vote, you have to know the issues. But a state of constant stress is not the key to informed voting. If you really want to know what a politician is all about, don’t listen to their pumped up crowd-pandering speeches. Look up their track records. See what they’ve actually done. But honestly – if you went into a coma tomorrow and never voted again, the world would not fall apart.

Probably the absolute worst thing you could do would be to join an activist group and focus even more on all this stuff that upsets you. Along with important news, there’s a lot of misinformation and hype out there. It takes a rational mind to sort through it and you don’t sound rational. I would avoid any group made up of people like yourself – you are a prime candidate for a cult.

Life is stressful. You are a sensitive, jumpy person. I suggest you take up knitting. If you must watch the news, knit while you are watching it. It will give context to everything you are hearing – all that upsetting stuff is going on out there but here you are – sitting on your comfy couch, knitting. 

The really important stuff that fuels most catastrophes goes on behind the cameras, not on set. Remember the words of Gil Scott-Heron: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” 

These days the news is basically another drug. You have overdosed. Dry out.

– Cathren Housley 

You can visit Dr. B’s blog at drbrilliantcliche.wordpress.com