Traumatised by the news

I think that 24/7 media is part of the problem. If anything bad happens, anywhere in the World, we will know about it. Murder in this country is fortunately quite rare. 1 in 100,000 people are murdered every year. Because we hear about so many murders, it feels like people are being murdered right,left and centre in our circle of acquaintance. Also, humans are obsessed with murder, hence the success of writers like Agatha Christie.

This is something you can do something about.

I know because I have. I do not watch the news on any channel at all. I will look up the news once or twice a week if that. Just to be updated but not overwhelmed as I tend to ruminate and I have anxiety.

Humans are not meant to be bombarded with bad news 24/7. We do this to our own detriment. I also have all notifications turned off of my social media which also helps.

To turn it on it's head, I also follow a media website that only does good news. They are on instagram and they have a newsletter. They are called in the know media.

I have found so much good things through them. Like a pancreatic cancer vaccine jab and the news of nature reserves in England.
I knew about the reintroduction of beavers before the london platform story came out, you know where the beavers stopped it flooding.

Bad things have happened since the beginning of the dawn. What has changed is how we are hearing about it.

We have a duty to ourselves to keep ourselves mentally healthy by drowning some of it out. I feel like how I did back when I was a teen and not as reliant on a phone. We had mobiles then but it wasn't like it is now. Everyone has their face in them, me included at times but it has reduced so much and I feel so much better

I even put timers on my social media so I come off, as I end up doom scrolling (adhd)

Better to go for a quick walk in nature. Makes a difference mentally. Especially when everything in my life right now is stress as it is.

I haven’t watched the news for at least 10 years.

The media only shows what it wants to and it genuinely makes me feel depressed.

I have the news emailed to me and I click on it when I’m in the right head space.

I also have regular ‘good news’ updates too and there is always so much more good news but we just don’t hear about it.

Things feel worse because we used to mainly just hear about things in our local areas but now we hear about all the bad things happening world wide and it’s mentally exhausting.

I love that teens are being banned on SM and I think there needs to be more restrictions on it even for adults as peoples mental health are genuinely suffering.

I'm so much happier after ditching the news.

I cleaned up my youtube algorithm, deleted X and facebook, and stopped reading news sites. I'm focusing on my own family, my own daily reality and hobbies/interests instead.

The difference in my mental health has been staggering, I'm starting to enjoy things again. I used to think it waa my duty to stay read up on current events, but I refuse to do so at the expense of my own sanity anymore.

The News has been excessively grim this past week.

You can't always foresee what is going to come up, obviously.

On top of this, 24-hr news and the addictive, unsatisfying nature of it is a further problem. Really, we have not merely a small box in the room but a big TV taking centre stage, beaming negativity into the living room.

I have been unable to access my X/Twitter account this last month (my browser might need updating) and have felt better for it. Actually, the same would apply most likely if I was unable to access Mumsnet.

I listen to times radio news, which is mainly current events and politics. There's no sensationalism or gnarly descriptions of horrific things. I know enough about what's going on, but not the really depressing stuff.

I am a confirmed addict. I've never walked away from checking the news happier, just upset about something I can do literally nothing about. I quite fancy living on an island away from everything. I even block news sites on my phone and home network. Good luck :)

Anything important, someone really will tell you

I haven’t watched or listened to the news in a few years now, to the point where I’ll go to the bathroom if it comes on when I’m at someone else’s house.

I’ll still see some things on Instagram of course, but I don’t actively follow any news channels, etc.

I feel a bit ignorant about what goes on in the world, but I need to do it for my own mental health.

People who don't take responsibility for themselves.

If you know you react to the news in this way, it's quite easy to avoid it in such detail.

For example, after a bereavement last year I could feel bad news was affecting me quite badly.

So I limited my consumption accordingly, just like millions of people do.

I do agree with you in general about these words being over-used, and I say this as someone with diagnosed complex ptsd. But some of the news is replicating the experience of being an eye witness of a horrific event. I think there was quite a lot of research on this after the events of 9/11 which were witnessed live by so many people via the news. The way it affected people did demonstrate actual trauma, even if they weren’t in Manhattan on that day.

I understand, OP, and I don't think you're being unreasonable to struggle with it; I too have times where I genuinely can't cope with certain stories, but then I avoid TV news in general where you can't get away from whatever's been chosen to present you with and how. I will read the news websites though.

But I agree with the poster who suggested that it's a lot to do with how you choose to manage the information yourself rather than the news outlets avoiding stories that might be distressing. I tend to read headlines and then go deeper into any story that I feel I need to know more about and that works for me. I really struggle with violent imagery, for instance and so definitely do NOT need to see it. Other stories, I genuinely feel it's my responsibility to understand and face up to the full detail, but what people can handle of different types of story is personal of course.

This week has been particularly difficult and distressing (well, most weeks are, to some extent). I am of the mind that while such stories should not be overly-sanitised—it's too easy for reality to be brushed under the carpet in ways that enable the problem in the real world— I also think there are 'levels' where the general public should have the choice of how deeply to engage or disengage with such material. How news programmes present them is one, but otherwise, it's pretty much up to you.

Try BBC on line

I deliberately read nothing about that awful case this week and switched off the radio talk show I listen to when they discussed it. It’s too much.

People who don’t take responsibility for themselves or people with normal, human emotions who are seeking comfort by hearing from others who feel the same?

I just want to express my support as I feel completely the same. I have blocked all news sites from my phone, delete social media for big periods regularly and click “I don’t want to see this” if something comes up in my algorithm. It has a detrimental impact on my mental health.

These threads seem to pop up quite often from people who don't take responsibility for themselves.

If I don't want to see or hear depressing news in detail, I make sure don't.

As do millions of others I imagine.

OP, I relate to everything you have said. My son was still near enough a baby when the Ukrainian invasion happened and mentally I was spiralling.
What jumped out was your sense of responsibility and I get that; I heard some good advice that flipped that for me a bit..

Essentially- it's a waste of your energy and ultimately selfish (sounds a bit harsh but if you follow the logic of the advice it starts to make sense!) to focus on issues that are so external.
So step 1, forget the news and social media.
Then, step 2, use all of that concern and empathy to focus on your immediate world. Support local causes, make your world better, help where you can help. Try to make your small part of the world better. Obviously if you can donate to global causes or advocating for others, you do that. It's not about being ignorant to the plight of others, more recognising where this is above your pay grade (war, murder) and using your energies to support where you can be of help. If we all did this, imagine how far that spreads.
Action (even if all you can manage right now is being kind enough to yourself to avoid things that make you distraught whilst trying to manage being a parent) is far more powerful than inertia.

Or maybe just learn to put it on perspective and look at what the positives?

Look at what is going right in the world.

Its not about you.

I can completely empathise with your struggle but I do think it is your responsibility to manage this from your side and I don’t say that to be dismissive of your experiences but because there is always and has always been appalling things happening in the world and these have to be faced up and addressed in spite of our sensitivity to them.

It is already very difficult for people to speak up about appalling experiences they have had without having that shut down by people’s sensitivity around what they have experienced.

You have a responsibility to limit your own exposure to this stuff to protect your own mental health though and that is absolutely okay for you to limit your exposure to preserve your mental health.

Sorry but people need to stop throwing the word “trauma” and “traumatised” about. You’ve been upset by it, and rightly so, that’s a rational reaction. To say you are “traumatised” is a bit insulting to the actual victims.

yanbu I've also been traumatised by the news particularly this week and have had trouble sleeping and concentrating.

It is difficult because you want to feel like you know what's going on in the world, but the news is so graphic these days. I try not to watch the news at 10 anymore - very hard to watch terrible things and then try to go to bed.

I think I'm going to try and take a step back from news generally.

How do you keep yourself sufficiently informed to vote or find out about matters that might affect you and your family?