Has anyone given up watching any news at all?

[ladybranstonpickle]

I have always prided myself on being an engaged citizen - reading and watching multiple news sources from across the political spectrum on topics relevant to the UK and other places I have lived.

But this week my mental health has really taken a battering. Between the unspeakably sad and horrific murders of women and children, doom mongering about potential virus variants requiring additional lockdowns/behavioural change to avoid a collapse in our healthcare system, to reports on how children's education will never recover from previous school closures, to the enraging behaviour of our so-called political leadership, I am ready to throw in the towel. I have deleted news apps and am considering deleting social media. I turned Sky News off yesterday when we usually watch it at lunch (WFH 100% currrently) But I use FB and Instagram for the community aspect as I am part of multiple interest groups I really enjoy (for hobbies such as cooking and exercising.)

I can't help but feel guilty about "putting my head in the sand" but then I really need to address how depressed I feel after listening or treading the news. Does anyone else feel similarly?

Me too OP I am with you. It has bordered on hysteria and doom and gloom and scare mongering for nearly 2 yrs now and I feel I cannot get to the truth or believe what is being reported anymore, I switched off and decided to check the governments website for 10 mins a day to see if any changes brought in affected me and left it at that, I am much more calm and settled since I stopped allowing myself to be barraged day and night by fear, I feel so much better for doing this,

With due respect to the recent victims of murder, I never watch the news now. Ever. I just skim the headlines on the online newpaper of my choice.

I feel so much better for it, it is just the same shit different day anyway keeping us all on high alert and either fed up, terrified, or both really.

Yep. I don’t listen to it anymore and will go days without reading it. I couldn’t cope with it anymore. I’ve never been like this before.

Just to add I never suffered from any mental health issues before I started watching the news at the begininng of the pandemic but I did feel myself drowning with the relenlessness of it,

Me. I have already done all I can to protect myself from Omicron.
I don't want to read about abused children and murdered women.

Yes. I skim the BBC website headlines once a day or so and that's it.We ge the Saturday Times but I only look at the telly pages and the crossword.

Yes. I've always been a current affairs enthusiast but I can't cope with the levels of appalling cruelty that seem to happen every day. What in God's name is wrong with these people?

I had started to get depressed so I'm taking a break.

To give an example, I know that a little boy called Arthur died. I couldn't escape that. But because I do not watch the news and do not click on stuff, I do not know how he died. I didn't watch the video everyone was talking about. Honestly, I don't need to know that.

I haven't watched bbc since covid first appeared - the endless slides and figures were just depressing. I also stopped buying a paper every day. Now I watch GMB and read Mumsnet.

I had then got sucked in over this week's press conferences on Omicron and did some background reading.
Big mistake really: I now know a bit more about what those in charge can't sure of. 😏
The known unknowns as it were.

Better to be unaware I think at this stage but living healthily. Not being stressed and sleeping well is a huge part of that and the current atmosphere as channelled to us from on high is not helping.
So no I didn't think avoiding the mainstream news is an act of denial more a tool of self preservation.

I don’t have a tv aerial, so don’t watch anything I usually browse the Guardian headlines in the morning and maybe read one or two articles but not stuff that’s going to be depressing

l haven't watched the news for years, their whole agenda is based on fear, because that sells.
I am much more interested in the natural world, so much more authentic and healing.

I have to see a certain amount of news in my work. However, in my own time I have replaced it by looking at funny TikTok videos instead and it has done wonders for my mental health. Like many others, I've been getting burnt out with everything in the media being miserable.

Thank you for your replies. I think I'm going to try it. Will delete all news apps and try to stick to only the groups bit of facebook and positive instagram feed.

I do read the Guardian and Times weekend colour supplements, which are filled with articles about art, history, culture, music and so on. They help me. I just avoid the front pages.

The irony is that I actually worked in the media once upon a time.

Yep, I stopped consuming news several years ago and it's one of the best things I ever did. I do not watch it, I do not read it, I do not listen to it. Not because I want to bury my head in the sand, but because I do not trust journalists. It's an industry, peddling a product, and it's much more about the bottom line than about any lofty ideas of free speech, truth or justice. They tell you what will SELL, not what you need to know.

It was when I realised - hang on, isn't it weird that there's the same amount of news every day. Exactly the right amount of news to fill a 30-minute programme, every single day. That's when I suddenly realised how unreal it is. Also, journalistic standards have plummeted (or maybe they were always this low and I wasn't so cynical!) - there is no effort to uncover truths, offer insight or report facts. It's all just opinion.

I stopped watching and reading the news at some point during the first lockdown. It was giving me panic attacks, and I was genuinely afraid to leave the house. I went through about 6 weeks where I refused to see anyone even though restrictions were lifting, I'd become convinced I would be fined for inadvertently breaking a rule, or I'd cause someone to become sick. Quite frankly I was paranoid and delusional. Switching it all off was the best decision I ever made. A year on I watch the afternoon news when I'm WFH, for some reason it doesn't seem quite as doom and gloom as the evening news.

I work in a media-related job so I'm constantly looking at news. But I'm really selective about what outlets and what I look at - during the day I keep it focused on news that's relevant to my job and I avoid tabloid outlets so while I see the news about murdered children etc I avoid the more hysterical-toned stories.

I haven't really had a news burnout over the pandemic and I think that's because I've been quite careful. During the Grenfell disaster I was obsessed with the news (I work quite nearby) and it became dreadful, I couldn't concentrate on anything and had dreadful nightmares. So I think focusing on good quality reporting that's relevant has helped immensely.

Watching the news does not make me feel informed. It makes me feel sad, angry and impotent.

I honestly cannot think of one positive benefit to watching or listening to any news.

I agree standards have lowered and investigative reporting has died away.
And the print media were always notorious.

If you really know a subject area or were at an event reported on you also know the version given by general reporters is often plain wrong.

I didn’t watch the news much prior to Covid but during the first lockdown I started watching it and became obsessed! So I’ve stopped watching it completely now. I’ve also deleted my Facebook account for similar reasons! Too much doom and gloom and misinformation from people sharing news articles. I don’t miss it!

News is something that is newsworthy, a tragedy, a dreadful storm, horrible murder, etc.

These days news is not news, it is dictated by a Government agenda. Few journalists stray from the received narrative anymore, so we are brainwashed a lot of the time.

I stopped following the news a few years ago. There were deaths of two children (one in America and one in France) that really upset me so I deleted all news apps.

I dont watch the news any more. I can’t bear hearing about any harm to children. It haunts me and I get upset for weeks and even years after.

I never watch the news , ever !
I have a few apps and read it if I want to but hardly ever do .