So many of us are anxious, angry, and aggrieved about the news. Which is no surprise: the news is awful, and in our faces all day, every day. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to escape the headlines. In fact, many of us deliberately seek out these headlines, “doomscrolling” about politics or world news or the environment or any other number of potentially upsetting topics.
While doomscrolling has (unfortunately) become common practice for many of us, I’ve noticed that many of my patients have crossed the line between “engaged consumer of journalism” and “bad news addict.” If one or more of these things are true of you, you might have crossed the line, too (note that I’m using the term “news” here in a broad sense, including TV news, news websites, and social media accounts/personalities that focus on news):
- You are accessing the news instead of doing things that are productive or joyful (or both).
- You are preoccupied by the news, finding that it’s top of mind often and gets in the way of thinking about other things.
- Your family/friends are expressing frustration with you constantly being on your phone/watching upsetting TV/making comments about the news.
If you notice any of these signs in yourself, might I suggest a “news diet?” Here’s how to stop doomscrolling using CBT:
- Choose specific times of day for accessing news related accounts. For example, in the morning while you’re drinking coffee, or at night when you return from work (a note on that though: make sure your news time isn’t too close to bedtime! You don’t want it to interfere with your sleep). This means turning off news alerts on your phone; if your phone is constantly pinging you’re going to have a difficult time ignoring it.
- Give yourself time limits for accessing the news. For example, 30 minutes during the morning, 30 minutes during the evening. Don’t allow yourself to go beyond those time limits. Set an alarm on your phone if you have to!
- Be deliberate about how you spend the time you would otherwise spend doomscrolling. For example, I wrote this piece about the benefits of watching TV without having your phone nearby. I’m also a fan of activities that are incompatible with phone use (e.g. knitting, doing puzzles, or basically anything else you need to use your hands for).
- Be thoughtful about where you’re getting your news. Not every website/TV channel/social media account is created equal. Patients tell me that they follow accounts that frequently post things that upset them. Why, I ask them, would they purposely put themselves through this? I suggest instead seeking out a small handful (honestly, I think the fewer the better) of sites/accounts to follow. These should be accounts/sites that you trust, and that don’t generally leave you feeling terrible.
Have thoughts on doomscrolling? Questions? Contact me here!
