Find yourself drawn daily or even hourly to news, news, news? And all because it's there and it seems so much more exciting than events directly around you? Addiction to news channels, or news sources in general, is a form of distraction or obsession and while you may feel connected to the world, you're actually less involved and engaged than were you to stop imbibing all those news stories and get on with something you're good at, like work, a hobby, writing a polemic piece for online publishing or getting the kids outside to play sport. Worst of all, snippets of information are only the tip of the news story and may not even be an accurate portrayal of events, particularly if your news sources are very partisan. It's time to wrench yourself away from the love of news, sense of urgency and all things titillating and start to do more useful things with your day.
EditSteps
- 1Assess the level of your problem. How badly are you afflicted by addiction to news feeds, whatever their source? Here are some possible indicators that you're struck badly:
- Do you define your day by checking in to news sites online, flicking on news stations and newspapers?
- Do you interrupt conversations to be able to hear a news item while you're out shopping, dining or spending time with others?
- Do you consider 24 hour news stations matter more than any other stations on your TV? Have you subscribed to a massive amount of them? Or would you forgo other things in life just to feed this habit?
- Do you feel deprived if you don't know what's apparently currently happening in the world?
- Do you need to be person who has the news first, whether it's who won American Idol or which country has invaded which other country?
- Even if you hated the reporter's take on things, would you rather watch/read/listen to that reporter's news than not get the news at all?
- Have you succumbed so badly that you work with news in some shape or form? Are you a journalist, a political adviser, a media specialist? Obviously, this doesn't necessarily mean you're addicted but in a wider context of other indicators, it may reveal that you're hooked on urgency and the need to be "in-the-know" before anyone else.
- Do you define your day by checking in to news sites online, flicking on news stations and newspapers?
- 2Evaluate your mood after spending time watching news programs. Your feelings are the key guide as to whether or not you've let a news addiction dominate your life and turn out of control. If you feel anxious, anxiety-ridden and convinced that the world is a basket case on a daily basis, you're overly reliant on news. Has your usual optimistic self being transformed into a pessimistic and joyless self who only sees the dangers, the panic, the fears and the terrible future possibilities ahead of you? Too much news digestion will do that. It's dangerous to allow the news to dictate how you feel; it's even more dangerous to let the skewed, sensationalist, overly negative focus of most news sources give you the impression that life is all bad, troublesome and evil. Telltale signs that news is ruining your life include:
- You're unable to react to stressful situations rationally. Have you become more anxious or anxiety ridden since you increased your cable news TV viewing and online news scouring? Do you snap at family members or become agitated if someone makes the slightest mistake or dares to suggest that things aren't really so bad as you're making them out to be?
- You've started to become more paranoid or uneasy in public. Continuous exposure to an abundance of news can make even the most levelheaded individual feel paranoid or concerned that something terrible is about to happen. You start wondering if people are concealing weapons, if that person who made eye contact with you is up to no good and that the egg salad on your daily sandwich is suddenly a field of salmonella contamination despite the fact that the cafe has a clean bill of health and all your previous sandwiches were just fine.
- Do have an overall feeling of negativity? An overwhelming, overall feeling of doom and gloom toward mankind can result from watching too much news. News is typically premised on the more bad events that can be covered, the more viewers. Humans are primed to react to negative events; it's a survival mechanism. Unfortunately, news outlets have taken this predilection to new heights by keeping our fear level hovering at a constantly high level, wondering where the next bogeyman is about to leap from.
- You're unable to react to stressful situations rationally. Have you become more anxious or anxiety ridden since you increased your cable news TV viewing and online news scouring? Do you snap at family members or become agitated if someone makes the slightest mistake or dares to suggest that things aren't really so bad as you're making them out to be?
- 3Consider the impact of your compulsion to imbibe news 24/7 news has on your life. Even if you believe that you can cope with digesting news all day long, take a hard look at the way your life is right now. If you used to have diverse interests and were more trusting and open with others, but now feel as though it's best to stay indoors, never get in your car again and definitely go nowhere near where bears roam, people don't speak your language or eggs are eaten raw, then you're curtailing your life. You've stopped looking for the good and simply see all that's bad. And while a little dose of wariness is a good thing for anyone, when it's in overdrive, it's liable to border on paranoia, suspicion, phobias and social isolation.
- How are your friendships going? Are you actually interested in what your friends are doing and thinking or are only inclined to base the majority of your conversations and interactions on what you read and see on the news? Can you only relate to others based on what is going on in the news or feel left out when friends or colleagues discuss subjects, such as their family or even what’s going on at work?
- Do you find ways to bring up news topics, even if they aren’t being discussed? If you’ve become consumed by watching around the clock news coverage, you may feel that the only way you can relate to others is through showing your knowledge about the current stories. You may even consider driving a conversation toward a recent story or look for opportunities to move the conversation away from a non-news topic to something you’ve recently seen. For example, during a trial of a parent who has committed a crime against his or her child, do you find that when friends or colleagues discuss issues relevant to their children or parenting skills, you’ll try to morph the conversation into something about the latest larger-than-life trial coverage rather than keeping it solely at the level of the reality of the parenting issues in front of you?
- Have you skipped or missed important events or opportunities to be with others to watch the news? A true news junkie will forgo gatherings and events in order to avoid missing out on breaking news. Although the story will be replayed dozens of times over the next few days, many news addicts feel as though it is important to get the story as it breaks. Alternatively, perhaps you do go but you're rude enough to keep checking news stories on your smartphone throughout the whole event, ignorant of how self-absorbed this looks to everyone around you.
- How are your friendships going? Are you actually interested in what your friends are doing and thinking or are only inclined to base the majority of your conversations and interactions on what you read and see on the news? Can you only relate to others based on what is going on in the news or feel left out when friends or colleagues discuss subjects, such as their family or even what’s going on at work?
- 4Dig into your obsession with news. Now that you've acknowledged you have a problem, start working on cutting your ties with news addiction. Although "news addiction" isn't a recognized medical issue as such, any time that something obsesses you and causes you to lead a less fulfilled life as a result of the obsession needs to be dealt with in the same manner as an addiction in order for you to break free from its hold. Here are some ideas for getting started:
- Identify when your neediness for news began. Sometimes an obsession is simply a symptom of a larger issue, so identifying the underlying cause can put you in a better position to beat the addiction. In some cases, professional psychological assistance may be necessary to address problem but for now, assume you have a handle on this.
- Did you start to watch more and more news after experiencing a traumatic event, somehow identifying with other people's pain? This can be an especial problem where you haven't had proper debriefing or care following a traumatic event of your own, and you're vulnerable to identifying closely with the loss, pain and sadness of those depicted on TV or in other sources of news stories. Another reason can also be because you're trying hard to care for yourself by telling yourself that other people have it so much worse than you. While this has good underlying intentions, when all you end up doing is watching how many other people have it worse than you, you're obsessing, not healing.
- Are you making up for a sudden appearance of free time? In some cases, if you're newly retired or unemployed, your children have "left the nest", or you've experienced a reduction in responsibilities or duties, you may be simply trying to find ways to handle extra time. This can easily translate into increased news viewing, which may feel like an intellectually acceptable outlet to keep your brain in gear and your knowledge of events current. Moreover, if news channels come with your TV package and online news is there at the click of a mouse, it's all too easy to gravitate toward them.
- Identify when your neediness for news began. Sometimes an obsession is simply a symptom of a larger issue, so identifying the underlying cause can put you in a better position to beat the addiction. In some cases, professional psychological assistance may be necessary to address problem but for now, assume you have a handle on this.
- 5Curb your addiction to news. Going cold turkey is one possibility but for most people, a little news is a good thing and that should be the goal to aim for. Plan how you'll approach news sources from now and then action the plan. Here are some possible approaches:
- Create a schedule that maps out your daily events. Include news reading, viewing or listening as a minor portion of each day, and no more. Setting limitations and tracking your time on a daily schedule or planner will help you to hold yourself accountable for the amount of news viewing going on.
- Allot yourself a specific amount of time to watch cable news. Aim for a set maximum amount of time that won’t interfere with other activities, both things you have to do and things you want to do (apart from news obsessing). Typically an hour of cable news can provide you with ample coverage; any more than that and it starts getting repetitive.
- Apply the same rules to Internet news. Give yourself a chance to break your news addiction by limiting your online news reading to set portions of the day and even if you see headlines, don't click there unless it's your allotted time. If you're subscribed to news feeds that make you jittery for more every few minutes, unsubscribe. The world will keep turning.
- And yes! Get off Twitter! If it's junked with news about the latest sensational, terrible something, just what is the point of reading about it from fifty different sources that all say the same thing that hour? Get a grip on yourself! Update infrequently unless you're actually in the epicenter of an unfolding issue and need real-time help.
- Create a schedule that maps out your daily events. Include news reading, viewing or listening as a minor portion of each day, and no more. Setting limitations and tracking your time on a daily schedule or planner will help you to hold yourself accountable for the amount of news viewing going on.
- 6If you don't feel you can do this alone, ask a friend or family member to hold you accountable to reducing or stopping your news viewing. Having someone to help you adhere to your goals will provide you with a greater chance for success, especially if your obsession has been bugging them or spoiling your relationship together.
- Alert your friend to the telltale signs you’ve been watching too much cable news, such as becoming easily agitated or paranoid or not answering the phone when your friend calls. Let him or her know what to look for especially if you don’t come clean if you’ve relapsed.
- Consider quitting together. Being addicted to round-the-clock coverage is common. If your buddy seems to be pulled in too, think about supporting each other in your effort to kick the habit.
- Keep a money jar for lapses. Every time you watch more than the allotted amount of news, put money into the jar that goes to your friend at the end of each week.
- Make an online pledge to stop. There are a number of websites available that let you make your pledge to stop doing something public. You can even tie failure to do so to donating to charity.
- Alert your friend to the telltale signs you’ve been watching too much cable news, such as becoming easily agitated or paranoid or not answering the phone when your friend calls. Let him or her know what to look for especially if you don’t come clean if you’ve relapsed.
- 7Consider a new hobby or venture if your news addiction surrounds new-found free time. If part of the problem is that you have too much time on your hands, try something new such as taking a class at the local community college, tackling a project you’ve had on your “to do” list for years or making a concerted effort to see friends and/or family members more often.
- 8Go for quality, not quantity. Be more selective about the news you choose to absorb. This requires being rather skeptical about the news sources, but that's a good thing, so the sooner you get started on this track, the better.
- Start questioning the news you're hearing or reading. What vested interests are being given credence in the things said?
- Are those surveys predicting dire consequences credible and accurate? Should you really curtail your day because of a survey? Do some deeper digging. The more a news service keeps relying on shoddy information, the more you will be put off trusting it.
- Equally beware figures, statistics, percentages, graphs, charts and the like. They're easy to distort and still appear technical. Find out whether the creators of these items are reputable or it was the backroom news crew prettifying a story to bring out the terrors in viewers or readers.
- Listen for weasel words. These tend to accompany generalizations or they're very emotive. If the report suggests that everyone is doomed, wise up to the weasel words that are being used.
- Look for the bigger picture. A lot of news gives snippets because this allows a narrowing down to a specific, terrible situation. When you draw back though, suddenly the chances of the same thing happening again or even at all, are minuscule. Influenza is a very good example of narrow reporting––X amount of people die but in a country with 350 million people, 50 influenza deaths is a small amount. Don't assume pandemic without good evidence.
- Look news fear straight in the eye. Fear sells stories. It makes us sit up and take notice because we might be next in line for whatever terrible event has befallen another. While empathy is desirable in the right context, so is being rational, especially when distanced from what is occurring. Be extremely wary of defeatist reporting that suggests that nothing can be done, so be alarmed, be very alarmed. If nothing can be done, the very purpose of the story is aimed at creating fear and you don't need to buy into that. Learn to pick through defeatism and scare tactics and to recognize what matters.
- Be wary whenever anybody suggests that "this is the greatest threat we've ever faced...". Look for credible facts to back this up before assuming it's an accurate assessment––many times the speaker is grandstanding or overstating the matter, precisely because it gets your attention.
- When you're tempted to believe that things are getting worse because of the news, stop and ask yourself: Are they really? And why do I think that? Are those facts credible? Just taking the time to question the fear-mongering news stories can create is a good way to break the cycle of being obsessed with them.
- Start questioning the news you're hearing or reading. What vested interests are being given credence in the things said?
EditTips
- If you can’t seem to cut back on news viewing, consider more of a guerrilla approach and stop cold turkey. This may mean either getting rid of cable and internet completely if other family members can live with your decision. If you become addicted to both online and TV news, you may need to limit your news resource to newspaper only.
- If it's really bad, entertain the notion of attending a 12 step program or meeting. While you may not be an alcoholic, a 12 step program may help you find ways to get a handle on your addiction, plus provide you with a basis for additional support.
- Be honest if you’ve slipped. Admit to yourself if you’ve spent the last five hours watching cable news. Everyone with an addiction is vulnerable to relapse, so instead of brushing it under the carpet, admit what happened and then learn from the circumstances surrounding your relapse.
EditWarnings
- A report featured by the US Department of Veteran Affairs says that watching too many hours of news coverage that center on traumatic events can trigger the viewer to experience post traumatic stress disorder. Seek help immediately if you think you are traumatized by what you’ve seen on the news.
- If your addiction to news has completely interfered with your ability to interact with others or has cost you your job or relationships, seek assistance from a qualified mental health professional.
EditThings You'll Need
- Alternative activities
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