News is unhealthy

I went through a period a few years ago when I stopped watching the news as it was so depressing. I don't blame anyone for not watching it if it adds to their anxiety.

I think the news has always been depressing! Unfortunately I have enough domestic and personal things to worry about so watching the news cannot make me worry more as I'm at my limit.

Funnily enough I don't despair over the impact of Donald Trump as I doubt if he'll be able to do all the things he has promised or as quickly as he has promised. I've been enjoying his setbacks and expect them to continue.

A few years ago some friends who emigrated created a newsletter full of good news about things that were happening in their adopted homeland and I was on their circulation list.

Believe me - it was the most boring thing I ever read!

I don't think of it as 'opting out' just as being sensible for good mental health.Sometimes we have to be a little bit selfish.

Good posts from everyone, and limiting yourself to the amount of news does seem to help, in any case, there isn't all that much real news, it's just all circulating the same items ( ad nauseam!)
I think that it's the feeling of helplessness that so many news items brings on, and we are not,as humans, able to process that feeling.We are designed to solve problems regarding ourselves and those close by/clan/tribe/village etc and when presented with amorphous clouds of doom from afar this just seems to settle upon us without us being able to do anything about it.
So, so sum up, where news is concerned, less is more.

I, too, am developing an antipathy to news programmes, however my husband loves them and will have a news channel on all day long if he can.

I am hopefully being daft but to some degree feel we are re-living the 1930's and sleep-walking into major trouble.....

Someone tell me to get a grip!.

We wake up with the Today programme on Radio 4 and for me that's pretty much it for the day, except for snatches on the car radio . I read a weekend newspaper cover to cover as there is more 'comment'.
I agree it's the constant repetition of 'bad'news that's lowering but I don't think one should be unaware of what is going on in the world .I'm not yet ready to 'opt out' .And it's not true to say one can do nothing. Informed debate based on facts might have made a difference to Brexit (and the U.S. election)
And it's possible to for e.g.donate to famine relief or volunteer for one if the charities which helps

i don't read newspapers or watch the news on tv - too much doom and gloom.
however i very quickly look at the bbc news uk website in the mornings and also my local paper's website too.
that's enough for me - can't be doing with it!!

If we approach it with 'it will all have changed completely by tomorrow' or simply remember that predictions are just that. NO ONE knows the future. I like to stay attuned to what's supposedly going on and then I further research any item which particularly interests me. Do remember lies, damned lies and statistics and try not to worry.

I do not listen to news or read newspapers. I record a news occasionally and then just watch the items i may be interested in and fast forward the rest. Also record a lot of programmes I want to watch then fast forward over the ads about children dying from bad water, becoming blind etc and poor donkeys etc suffering. I know all about it but can do nothing to help.

I had to laugh this morning about another worst "crisis" ever - in teacher recruitment this time.
Laughed because I was recruited in 1970s when there was such a shortage I did a one year! shortened course & almost all the others on it were men who'd been made redundant from engineering & other heavy industry. It was great fun! There's always been a shortage of maths & science teachers - no news there!
I agree that avoiding most news is a good plan . I'm sure most of it is disinformation anyway!

It makes me depressed and anxious and yet I feel compelled to keep up with events, like the family watchdog waiting to raise the alarm.

It is all fake news of one variety or another and I trust none of them and yet................

Strangely, I felt this repugnance towards the news just this week. I have always liked current affairs and politics but am rapidly coming to the conclusion it is bad for your mental health. We were never meant to be aware of some much ghastliness in the world and your mind, especially in old age, cannot bear it.

Yes, I think it probably is the constant 24/7 presence of the news rather that the stories themselves that contribute to a feeling of being overwhelmed. It's as though one has to be on one's guard all the time. I don't even watch tv news now, either, I get my info from the Internet!

If we think back , the news was listened to at 6.00pm then/or 9.00 or 10pm, now we not only have rolling news but Internet news too. Too much for the mind to absorb if feeling troubled already by things in our own lives.

mcem, you are no wimp , you are sensible in avoiding what could trouble you and which you cannot do a thing to change .

I have been this way for the last 39 years after 2 traumatic breavements led to acute problems with anxiety and depression.
Good for my sanity,but my knowledge of current affairs is woeful,and I feel at a loss in discussions about such things

I have clear memories of my mother reaching her mid 60's and deciding to largely avoid the news. She had reached the point where she saw all politicians as "the same", trusted none of them and she was distressed by images about which she felt powerless to change.
I tend to listen to the radio during the day, in the car, in the kitchen and if I watch any tv news, it tends to be Channel 4 at 7 or occasionally BBC or Skye 24 hour news at 9pm. I can't watch it any later because I want to relax.
I agree that we have a surfeit of news, rolling at us 24 hours a day. I've not yet reached the point mum did but I certainly understand it.

I've always kept up with current affairs and politics but recently have found myself avoiding the news. I felt guilty and a bit of a wimp until I read this thread and discovered I am not alone.
Thank you!

We have far too much information to process comfortably. I glance at the headlines to ensure we are still functioning then switch to the craft channels - no politics there.

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments I have just read. I keep my news reading to a minimum and thought it was just me. Glad to know there are more of us!
I think it's very much a case of no news is good news. There is this focus on the bad things in this world.
A few years ago I was involved with a group of young people who spent their time raising money for charity. Local newspapers weren't interested. On the other hand, two drunken teenagers who smashed a shop window managed to get on the front page!

I do think the amount of negative news recently is affecting me, and making me feel powerless, like some flotsam bobbing about on the ocean. Some of it has a personal aspect for me, with family in America, while some of it is more nebulous in nature, along the lines of 'what kind of world will my grandchildren live in?'.

Regarding Trump, one of my friends has instigated a Trump Jar in her house, along the lines of a swear box. She thinks there'll be enough money in it to buy a top-spec Range Rover by the summer!

I keep up to date via the net first thing in the morning.

I also have anxiety issues so avoid TV news and newspapers.
Someone mentioned that they avoided newspapers but read local newspapers. I don't read those either as I find that they are full of local death and burglary etc .

So I agree that news can cause mental health problems

I do like to keep up with the news/events and don't let things that I have no control over bother me. I read mostly online a broad range of sources I suppose if it affects you then avoiding is a good plan.

I try to avoid the news on the TV as I find it quite biased. I prefer to read about it on my tablet.

I was just wondering this morning how long the NHS has been "at breaking point" when I saw yet another headline asserting that it was. It has serious problems but it isn't broken yet.

It's a bit like when a place is claimed to be in chaos. Whatever is happening is usually very far from chaos.

There is a monotony to the news at the moment switching on in the morning it's almost like "The Trump Show" featuring "What's Today's Gaffe". That's followed by the state of the NHS, prisons, Putin, disturbing news items from Syria and other Middle Eastern flashpoints, adinfinitum Brexit news with regular slots given over to self appointed remain spokespeople who like to reiterate the fact that those who voted out, did so without realising that Britain may well be leaving the single market.

Sometimes we watch ITV's evening news because they can have a different take on things but I'm not mad about Tom Brady and his asides such as "make of that what you will" I find myself wanting to respond with "just read the news will you?" I think the news can affect the state of our minds given what's happening in the world, most of it pretty depressing. Occasionally there's something uplifting such as footage of a zoo's new offspring. Unless there's some really monumental breaking news item, I think it's best not to watch it more than once.

I rarely read a newspaper, other than the local one, and try to avoid news as I am aware it can add to my anxiety/depression. A therapist once reassured me it was a reasonable decision to avoid further triggers. When my depression is really bad, anything about torture haunts me but I'm kind of drawn to it. Weird. Dh can't start the day without his daily newspaper - I'm sometimes glad he doesn't feel the need to share anything with me.