The wave of bad news from across the world (terrorism, violence, etc.) seems relentless. In our digital/social media age, every new atrocity is amplified and analyzed ad nauseam 24/7. Malleret argues that this can lead to a collective “catastrophizing” or a cognitive distortion that consists in predicting worst-case scenarios and has a very negative impact on people prone to anxiety and depression.
What should we do? Is it time to consciously unplug and consume less news? Is a high volume of news consumption and “wellness” inversely related?
MONTHLY BAROMETER – WELLNESS EDITION
Of late, it would seem the world is beset by a never-ending spate of bad news. This may lead to “catastrophizing,” or a cognitive distortion that consists in predicting very negative outcomes and worst-case scenarios, which affects mental health.
Often, people prone to anxiety or depression feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the global issues that the world is facing – an acute and growing sentiment in today’s digital age, when every piece of bad news is at our fingertips and the sheer deluge of information and analysis to which we are submitted is amplified by social media.
So what is to be done? Aside from the advice given in psychology books like The Anxiety Toolkit, there are a few simple antidotes: (1) The first obvious one is to unplug and consume less “news” – an easily achievable target considering that we spend a third of our total life consuming news (the consultancy, Zenith Optimedia, estimates that by 2017, the average of global news consumption will amount to a staggering nine hours a day, of which 30 percent is spent on the Internet). (2) The second is to be more discerning and seek exposure to sources of information that offer contrarian opinions by presenting views with no negativity bias or which are simply more positive.
Am I missing something?
I was very pleased to see you writing on this topic and though you are a very articulate writer, I have to say …I felt disappointed at the end. I don’t feel you answered the question posed in your heading.
As I read your last paragraph, I found myself searching below for your insight and some wellness, mental health expert’s opinion. You mention two things that people do, but not what is better for one’s mental health. Also, I was hoping for a bit more spiritual depth and insight about why these "T attacks" happen in the first place and relating those reasons back to us and then the individual’s responsibility to be informed and understand why others might do such a thing. we can then decide to either rebury our heads in the sand, or make changes.
Thank you for focussing on this topic – it is very important. Currently, we receive continuous daily terror-Information of atrocities and attacks all over the world and start to believe that we have lost our safety. This is an attack to our freedom, our Wellness and of course against tourism!