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Original poster

Is it ok to just not check the news?

92 replies

Mulligan1789 · 14/10/2023 23:46

Like many, I am finding the images all over the news at the moment incredibly sad. I also find our government’s silence on the unravelling humanitarian situation in Gaza to be absolutely disgraceful.
Is it ok, morally, to just not check the news? I feel I am a worse mother and wife at the moment because I often check my phone for news, hoping against hope for some sort of let up in what is going on, and I am definitely more short tempered.
What do other people do - how can you read this news and not let it affect all of your life? Do you set limits? Advice please. I am prone to depression at times.

OP posts:
JamSandle · 14/10/2023 23:49

Of course. Just turn it off. There's nothing us normal people can do about any of these things to be honest. Keep your sanity and your health and do your bit of good in your corner. These things have always happened and always will happen. Protect your peace.

PurplePansy05 · 14/10/2023 23:52

I often thought about it, especially in the last few years due to the sheer amount of constantly stressful news and my own poor MH. The short answers is yes. You need to function in your day to day life and you need to do what it takes. If this means eliminating or reducing exposure to the news then it's the right thing to do.

FWIW, I'm much better now, but I have reduced accessing the news because I am finding some things just too difficult right now. Look after yourself, OP.

picturethispatsy · 14/10/2023 23:53

JamSandle · 14/10/2023 23:49

Of course. Just turn it off. There's nothing us normal people can do about any of these things to be honest. Keep your sanity and your health and do your bit of good in your corner. These things have always happened and always will happen. Protect your peace.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

In the not so distant past you wouldn’t have known what was happening anywhere in the world other than your immediate vicinity. It’s a fallacy made up by the media to keep us clicking and buying that we should ‘keep up to date’.

Original poster
Mulligan1789 · 14/10/2023 23:55

Thank you - yes I guess it is a very recent thing, this constant news and live feeds etc. I guess it’s awful to feel so helpless. But a good point - best to focus on my own corner of the world.

OP posts:
itsallfunand · 14/10/2023 23:57

I stopped watching/reading the news last year after Ukraine/Russia conflict. I had to for my own mental health.

smilesup · 14/10/2023 23:59

It's so deeply upsetting I can't beat to think about the poor people in Israel brutalised and kidnapped and the poor people in Palestine who have had decades of brutalisation and now this.

Rummikub · 15/10/2023 00:05

It’s ok to stop.

i stoped after 9/11. Then it was years before I watched/ read the news again.

Mydogmybestfriend · 15/10/2023 00:12

Yep all the news does it upset you or make you angry over things which don't matter.
I usually just read the showbiz sections I'm not having my brain twisted over someone else's opinion

junbean · 15/10/2023 00:17

I compulsively read the news after 2020 happened. I'm always worried something big will happen that will affect my family and I need to know about it. I think it's partly because I'm in the US and it's totally falling apart over here. I never click on any headlines that don't affect us. I don't read about foreign wars, unless there's a threat of nuclear war, like when Russian first invaded Ukraine and we didn't know how Biden would react, as Putin made some scary threats. I haven't kept up with that war since. I haven't gone past just reading headlines about Gaza. I wish we were all at peace. But reading details about it won't help. I can't change anything outside of my family. Reading about it will only make me feel even worse than I do, which is already pretty bad. I have bad anxiety and I need to function for my family.

If you had any influence over current events you would need to know details. I'm assuming you don't, so it will only affect your health badly.

TootiiFrootii · 15/10/2023 00:44

Totally OK. I only let myself watch the 10pm news and then only on a weekday. Otherwise it gets overwhelming.

TomatoSandwiches · 15/10/2023 00:48

It's healthy to take a break from it imo.
The first time I can remember making a considered choice was after the reports of Baby Peter.
I do so quite often to save myself.

MayMi · 15/10/2023 00:57

I've actively avoided the news for a few years now. Any major stories (without great details) still reach me so it's not as if I'm living in a cave. I really recommend it 🙌🏻 it makes a huge difference to my MH.

My family are constantly consuming news so I grew up thinking it was normal but I realised that they only really report bad news, and often go into details about things the public really doesn't need to hear. For example, in the trial of a murder, exactly in what ways and at what exact minute did the accused injure the victim... honestly the only people who need to know that are the police and the people in the courtroom 🤷🏼‍♀️ why on Earth do I or the general public need to know that 'to be informed', there's nothing we can do about it because we are irrelevant to it.

Emmalin · 15/10/2023 01:05

It's fine.

If there's something you really need to know about, someone will tell you.

Find what suits you. For me, I rarely watch the news. I have radio 3 on during the day and catch the very brief headlines on there. If I want to know more about a particular story, I'll google it. I also buy a decent newspaper every couple of weeks - I like FT weekend. That probably wouldn't be enough for some and it certainly wouldn't have been enough for me when younger but I feel well enough informed without being overwhelmed.

DyslexicPoster · 15/10/2023 01:06

Your no more morally obliged to follow the news than anyone else is. Would you expect someone with mh issues, anxiety or depression to have a moral duty to the news?

I dip in out of the news. Or I just get the five minute headlines on the radio for the majority of the year. I can't cope with it most of the time.

I'd rather read up in depth on Israel/ Palestine to understand the history than spend time watching the horror. You are not obligated and I'm sure it won't stop you being informed or having a world view. Just stop checking it. News always filters in anyway.

I also would rather watch lunch yime news thsn news at 6 or ten. It's normally less horrifically graphic

SoShallINever · 15/10/2023 01:20

I had to turn it off today. I was in tears.

RantyAnty · 15/10/2023 01:24

Turn it off. It damages people's mental health and so much of it propaganda.

lemmein · 15/10/2023 01:47

I stopped watching the news during Covid - however I do use social media which is probably worse tbh. I haven't had an emotion since 2017 (sertraline!) but even I have found this week difficult - I even had a really disturbing dream about it. I think I'll delete twitter.

woolshop · 15/10/2023 01:59

I became more of a news consumer after my daughter moved to England 10 yrs ago but now have reduced to reading headlines and need to know articles only.
I struggled with the concept of head in the sand but realised at 60 that international conflicts and wars are always going to be part of life and as other posters have said a few decades ago we weren’t consumed with all of the worlds woes. We definitely don’t have the mental capacity to cope with it all.
Not to mention dealing with closer to home everyday issues …. in my case 3 siblings dying from cancer ( all under 55) in the last 6 years.
To placate my social conscience, I donate to charities like support for starving children in Third World Countries, Drs without borders and monitor my carbon footprint with recycling ect.
This has improved my anxious feelings about events I can’t control and I feel so much lighter.

Safxxx · 15/10/2023 01:59

Whilst we can't bear to see their tradegy... imagine them living in this nightmare 😔
I pray 🙏 it all stops 🙏
I personally don't watch the TV news as its too much propaganda going on... I trust a few online sources so I read them and avoid the graphic images or videos as its very hard to watch without crying 💔🥹

woolshop · 15/10/2023 02:00

Also avoid social media except Mumsnet 😆

Catsmere · 15/10/2023 02:02

I haven't watched the news for years, it's always depressing. I have enough to deal with without things over which I have no control preying on my mind.

Jelllytot · 15/10/2023 02:11

I've had to stop watching the news. I have a 6 month old baby and watching the news has my anxiety really badly triggered. I feel so lucky I live in a country where I can hold and protect my baby. And my heart is breaking and screaming for the mums who can't hold their babies right now. And for the poor vulnerable babies who have been separated from their families. I ended up having an argument with my husband because I was saying I feel unsafe living in a country that supports Israel with military aid (yep, told you my anxiety was an all time high).

I can't make sense of it. I don't understand how a country can wall up and area with children in it and bomb it. I've never paid much attention (ignorance and laziness) to the middle East conflicts but this is all over social media and unavoidable, and having seen so much about it in the past few days I am astounded that people are imprisoned like this in modern times. It is utterly grotesque.

I am holding my baby close and feeling truly grateful we're safe.

Jelllytot · 15/10/2023 02:18

I actually joined Mumsnet today because I needed to seek out support with how I was feeling. Never has an international news piece impacted my mental health like this has. Perhaps it's to do with being a new mum but either way, I have an unshakeable anxiety.

I'm sorry it's impacted you too OP. My therapist said to be impacted this way is healthy response. I too felt guilty for not watching the news/deleting social media for a while because I thought about how the people trapped in Gaza are having to live it right now. But I've been advised by my family to avoid it now. And I agree, I feel like I know all the very tragic things that are going on and seeing it over and over again isn't going to change anything. I've donated some money to charity and because I'm religious, I've prayed for them. But beyond that I don't know how else to help..

Jelllytot · 15/10/2023 02:21

Also while I was pregnant there was all the stuff about Lucy Letby and I avoided the news then too. It was so heartbreaking and triggering for me. I had to tell my DH if anything happened to me during the birth, not to let the baby out of his sight.

It's a very sad situation that the news is so bad these days that we need to avoid it for health reasons.

I hope the world finds peace soon 😞

QueenBitch666 · 15/10/2023 02:25

I've not watched the news in years. It's better for my MH. Definitely turn it off.

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