Is it ok to just not check the news?

[Mulligan1789]

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.

Of course. I have barely watched it since the pandemic. If and when the government change I might but for now it is more of the same and a lot of awful things happening. You can 'do' other things, like I make a small monthly donation to a charity I care about.

After my dh died traumatically I am another that stopped buying papers and switched to radio 3 so that I only get brief neutrally presented headlines and music that has come from.all sorts of terrible times but is nonetheless beautiful. I don't watch news on TV and I avoid videos on social media.

In the last two years I have gone back to the Guardian online and I do read their Analysis links, plus I listen to The Briefing Room on R4. Basically I aim to stay informed without drowning in immediate trauma.

Thank you so much everyone. I cannot tell you how much these posts have helped, just to make me feel less guilty about not watching the news all the time, and for all the suggestions.
I’m a secondary teacher so I do feel I need to be informed about the news as students do ask about it and it comes up in PSHE etc. however I was just going down a rabbit hole of online news websites, and yes I agree we don’t need to see all these graphic photos constantly.
I used to listen to the radio a lot and found that far less depressing in a way, more measured. Still depressing but somehow I was able to
deal with it, rather than the constant live feed updates.

I actually listened to the radio this morning, inspired by this thread, rather than just scrolling. And amazingly this just happened to come on, exactly addressing this topic.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001r7xm

It's fine.

As others have said, generations ago we wouldn't have had access to this information. Our "brain software" hasn't updated - so we react to these things the same as if we were seeing them in our local vicinity affecting people that we know. That sets you up to be on high alert for danger constantly. It's unhelpful, so it's a good idea only to look at the news as far as it is actually helpful to you.

I don't think that we need to know half of what is reported. Obviously for people in a position of power to do something about it, that's different. But for most people the net effect is that it stresses us out without any helpful effects.

I stopped watching the news in the Covid lockdown , when they kept telling us how many people had died that day
I sometimes watch Breakfast TV news , ( for the guests mainly ) the news once a day is more than enough

Great post. Thank you 🙏

Thanks OP I just listened to that.

@PhyllisBiscuits I agree. Raising teens through the Westminster Bridge attack and Barcelona ( while we were on holiday in Spain) has definitely left its mark. I’ve always steered them to focus on the outrage of the majority and the wonderfully brave souls who ran to their aid. It’s all you can do.

Thank you for this!

We still get a daily paper, which I usually just flick through. I catch up with basics via the BBC website, but try to avoid radio/TV news - have done mostly since it was Brexit, Brexit, Brexit - just couldn’t bear the B word any more. Apparently I wasn’t alone - a lot of people just switched off.
The awfulness now is of course something else. 😰

Dh (retired) however is a news fiend - he has R4 on for much of the day, and TV news at ten is one of his essentials. Not to mention in the car - although he’s already been listening for much of the day, he still wants R4 PM, The World At One, any other news progs.

If we’re in my car, though, he doesn’t get a say.

I stopped watching the news years ago as it just increases my anxiety and the footage is very graphic compared to the past where they'd need to get film crew to the scene and possibly it was censored somewhat to air. I'm a sensitive soul and don't need horrible images replaying in my head. I'm sure some people become desensitised to it all after a while and needs to be more shocking to make an impact.
I prefer to just look online so I can read the headlines and have more control over what content I'm exposed to, whether I want to read in detail, see videos or skim past pictures. Some days i don't even do that but I'm unlikely to miss anything major as people will mention it. Occasionally catch local TV news but it has a higher ratio of positive stories.

The news is designed to grab our attention so more shocking & doom n gloom items needed are as creating anxiety encourages us to keep checking in for updates. I also feel it's less trustworthy source as its become clearer how it gets used to feed a chosen narrative to manipulate public opinion.

I never watch the news. Haven't done for a few years now. I choose to live in my own bubble with my family, close friends, my job, and my hobbies. I don't do politics I don't do charity I don't do social media. My choice and I'm happy with it.

Of course turn it off, especially if you are feeling depressed at the moment.

Put your mental health first.

I think we get a relentless barrage of news and images with social media these days and it is not always a good thing to be constantly ''plugged in''.

I haven't sat down and watched the news since the experience of the Scottish referendum in 2014.

I just browse news apps now to get the headlines and then chose what articles to read.

People will claim it's morally reprehensible to avoid watching the news but worrying and becoming depressed about things you can do nothing about doesn't help anyone, least of all the people closest to you.

@Jelllytot Your posts have really touched me, I had severe PNA following recurrent miscarriages and a difficult end of the pregnancy with my DS, then the Ukraine war started when I was on maternity leave and Lucy Letby case was a huge trigger too, especially that a lot was published about her when I was grieving my own babies. This plus the pandemic and various family issues have really destroyed my MH.

In hindsight I wish I had someone to tell ne to cut off the bad international news as there's only so much an individual can cope with at once and being a new mother is a hugely vulnerable time. Please step away and look after yourself now, from experience, I promise you it's the right thing to do now 💖

I used to spend a lot of time watching the news, had the news apps pinging on my phone with dramatic headlines every 5 minutes but during the whole Russian invasion thing I got a bit panicky and had to completely shut it all off. I’ve broke the habit of watching it now and do feel better for it. I realised yesterday how much I’ve shut out what is going on just now and felt like I had to have a peek at sky news, almost hoping there was some sort of good news on the horizon but instead I just felt like I couldn’t watch it and put it off again. It’s awful, I’d hate the thought of the rest of the world looking away if it was me in that situation but on the other hand we are of no use whatsoever sitting in the house watching it unfolding 🤦🏼‍♀️