Traumatised by the news

[StrangePineapple]

This week I’ve been struggling immensely with rumination on current events.
I literally feel traumatised with the darkness of it all and will have to take a break from the news for a while to recover I think 😞
AIBU to think that news stories these days include too much detail on certain cases and it’s just not necessary, like they could easily express the weight of the story without going into such detail?
I’ve seen a few posts on here where people have expressed distress over horrible news stories and people reply with even more detail or talking about similar cases, why add to their sorrow?

I keep up with it as I am thankful I am not one of the people in the news so I know how lucky I am if people have to suffer why should I have to be immune from seeing where they have to live it

On the subject of 'do we need the details?' - i'm not sure.

On one hand it's nice to be ignorant. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

On the other hand i feel like (as much as it might pain us mentally) maybe we aren't seeing the real world if all details are glossed over?

I feel like i should face the details of what others have suffered. Not because it's my fault somehow but because i want to know/remember what monsters walk among us.

I think the news story about Preston Davey has gone into far too much detail, that little boy deserves for his story to be told but the amount of detail has been un necessary.

TV news is worse I find because it's there in front of you - you can see it and hear it. But I know what you mean about feeling a responsibility to stay informed. I found a daily podcast that gives me the top 3 stories of the day, and I listen to a longer one at the weekend that is a round up of the political goings on. Both of those are Danish so won't help you - but the principle might. Consume what works for you. I also found it tougher after I had DC.

That sounds awful 😞 I remember reading someone say something like: “when you become a mum to one child you become a mum to all the children of the world” and some part of that definitely resonates.

Absolutely agree OP, I find it hard to switch off and stop thinking about it too. My DH says don't watch it, and I know he's right, but I feel like i need to understand some of what happens in the world, as my job as an editor (trade press).

I have been particularly affected by the case with the little children, and i think as a parent, you have a lot more empathy as you always think about your own children when reading how the poor little ones who were affected 😢

Do you have any specific recommendations? I tried following a good news account at one time many moons ago and it was so cheesy that I gave up 🤦🏻‍♀️ but something about science/ecology/tech sounds much more up my alley

You need to look at how you access information if you can't cope with it. You are an adult and responsible for yourself. Other people have to live through these experiences, other adults have to help them to do this, treat them, council them, be their social worker, arrest the perpetrator, listen to all the evidence in minute detail, send them to prison, work in those prisons and report the stories. Instead of just switching off your phone or TV, you want someone else to have the responsibility of shielding you from it all!

I agree, and as an editor/reporter, I feel we have a duty to inform and educate in an impartial way. Things that are too harrowing shouldn't be overly reported in too much detail, but we shouldn't deny facts if necessary.

Humans aren’t designed to know so much about so many different tribes. Ignore the news, you can’t do anything about any of it. Concentrate on what’s happening to your family, friends and community, people in your tribe. What’s happening in America, in the Middle East is just not worth engaging with it saps your energy for no return.

I’ve stopped watching the news. Take each individual as you find them

I read the headlines on the red button on BBC TV. If there's anything that piques my interest, then I will look it up. Otherwise, I just scroll through. I think it is important to be aware of current affairs, but not to the detriment of your MH. This method works well for me.

I have a good site called The Conversation it's newsy without click bait, it has a mixture of history, science, politics. Seems neutral enough so far.

But even that I have taken a break from this week. Its all too much.

I can relate to this and am similar.
I have switched off the breaking news notifications from my phone and read the bare minimum news, especially not horrible details.
I know you said you don’t really do social media, but I follow Good News Movement, Upworthy and a couple of others to read about the good things that are happening in the world.

I avoid the news as much as I can but my partner likes it on in the background sometimes so I hear/see stuff that I'd rather not. I struggle with the over the top detail e.g the 999 call, the police bodycams, videos of the police interview etc we just need the basic impartial facts but sadly people seem to want every little detail.

I think you might be right 😂

I think this is such an important topic! don’t watch the news and I actually think I it’s really not a good idea to watch the news. It often means witnessing something that is truly traumatic, and seeing these things over and over again, day after day. It’s bound to affect us.

I was having just this conversation with a friend recently, she and her DP watch the news every day and both are becoming really depressed and she knows it is linked. She said she thinks she should be fine, because previous generations lived through the war and they were ok. I pointed out that they weren’t actually witnessing the aftermath of horrific bombings etc in graphic detail day after day, because they didn’t have televisions. They would just get a summary of the main events from the radio or a newspaper, and that would be enough.

I do follow the news, by reading a newspaper, and even with that I try not to become obsessed and not to spend too much time on it. It’s so much healthier I think to try to give our time and attention to people and events going on around us, rather than to global events which are largely or entirely out of our hands.

I want to be as informed as I can be. I don't think it's the responsibility of news providers to protect people's anxiety, other to inform them that the upcoming segment contains distressing material so that people can avoid it. They already invariably do that.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.