Episode 42: WARNING: READING THE NEWS CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH

Should the news carry a health warning like cigarette packets?

WARNING: READING THE NEWS CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH

Research shows this, which is why I, and many others, stopped reading the news a few years ago.

I only had one embarrassing moment of being less informed than maybe I should have been. Because the ‘news’ will always filter through and because mainly it goes in cycles of doom it’s pretty easy to predict.

Until this last year. And suddenly I’m getting pulled back into addictive news reading.

None of it has helped me and it has certainly caused me a great deal of stress and anxiety.

The news is not the news. It is a selection of manipulatively written messages and stories designed to hijack your attention and make money.

That doesn’t mean its evil or bad. There are many excellent journalists doing genuinely important work. But their voices are often drowned out by a fast-moving news cycle that demands ever-increasingly attention highjacking headlines.

So, how to stay informed without damaging your health?

Control how often and what you read.

Be aware of the addiction - what are you searching for? If it’s genuine information there are better sources.

Find an alternative. These are free: 

https://www.positive.news/

https://www.tortoisemedia.com/

https://fullfact.org/

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

If you have a good source of informative news that does not set off the stress response in a paralysing unhelpful way I’d love you to share it here. 

It’s time we did something about the life-destroying fear and anxiety.

Contains a Neutral Noticing practice at the end 

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This podcast is here to soothe and inspire, helping you reclaim your life from overwhelm. It is not intended as medical...