Is news bad for our health?

[ditheringdorothy]

I think I'm arriving at the conclusion that the news - not just traditional , tv or radio occasional news programmes, but the constant newsfeeds we all face online, via social media etc - is bad for our health. Surely it can't be good to read constant horrors? I don't have any pre-existing mental health issues, I've always believed that people should be well-informed about what goes on around them. After a few weeks of awfully depressing news stories, and a few in particular this weekend, I realised I was starting to feel quite anxious reading news stories.

I'm going to take a break from social media (I follow mostly current affairs stuff on twitter etc) and see if it makes any difference, but does anyone else feel like this? Like humans aren't designed to cope with constant bad news?

I never watch the news. Occasionally something awful will happen like the little boy at the Tate and I can't avoid reading about it....but war and politics...I avoid totally.

I'm naturally anxious so I just try to keep myself away from it all.

I have a Times online subscription as I can cope with politics and general news. I can't cope with the nasty, lurid stuff that the daily mail seems to enjoy including in its dubious offerings.

I don't watch the news before I go to bed. I'm a worrier. I watch it in the morning.

See I'm not naturally anxious @HennyPennyHorror , but think if I continue with my current Facebook, Twitter use, it'll definitely be to the detriment of my mental health. I don't read the DM or anything like that, I think it's just the 24/7 access, if you're in and out of that throughout the day it takes its toll.

It’s also the fact that it’s world news you’re hearing about and isn’t representative of what’s actually happening in your immediate area. But it feels as if these things are closer to home because the news is in your face 24-7. Can’t be good for us can it.

I limit mine to news headlines once a day as I find it depressing.

Definitely need to avoid certain publications like the the Mail and the Sun, because not only do they have the awful comments section but they seem to find the most horrific stories involving tiny little children from all over the world. I never see the stories anywhere else, which leads me to believe that they are fake - I mean who would know and what kind of mind would think of that.

I also think that if you are susceptible to poor mental health and you happen to be a minority, then you definitely need to cancel all subscriptions to TV and broadband, immediately.