May 3, 2007
In light of the tragic events that occurred only two weeks ago in
Virginia, I started thinking about how the news affects us.
Two days after the shooting, I had just completed an exam for a course and I was feeling extremely excited about how well it had gone. After a giggly, adrenaline-filled phone call with a friend, I sat down to read the paper which was inevitably filled with news about the massacre. When I was finished only a short time later, I noticed that the pleasant, excited feeling was gone and replaced by something more melancholy.
“How can this be?” I thought. “I’ve had an incredible morning.” The fact is that news does affect our stress levels. News tends to focus on the bad, especially crime. Studies have shown that seeing images of or reading about violence or death provokes changes in mood and can intensify anxiety, sadness or depression. These feelings can lead to a negative view of life which has negative effects on physical health.
Dr. Andrew Weil (www.drweil.com) recommends that in order to increase mental calmness we all take a “news fast” periodically. This means not watching the news or reading the newspaper for a few days or even a week.
Personally, I do like to stay informed as to what’s going on locally but I do tend to skip over the national news and any headlines that are disturbing.
I encourage you to reflect on your own news habits. Are you one of those people with CNN constantly going in the background? What could this background noise be doing to your stress levels?
As you reflect on your news habits are there any that you’d like to change? Which of these habits isn’t helping you?
I encourage you to try a news fast, or at least a news reduction, for a day or two and see how you feel. After all, it certainly can’t hurt and may even make you feel better!
Until the next chapter,Lisa
