Flashy Headline: Is Watching the News Bad for Your Mental Health?
I don’t know about you but, during the last two years, millions of people became hooked on the news in the most calculated media coverage ever. Studies are now showing the impact this has had and continues to have particularly on children and young adults today.
Last month, national statistics showed that nearly half a million more adults are now on antidepressants in England, reaching over 8.3 million patients. An estimated 83.4 million antidepressant drug items were prescribed between 2021 and 2022. These statistics are only for adults and only for England. For the whole of the UK and the entire population, the statistics are truly horrifying.
“One in eight people in England are taking antidepressants after the pandemic fuelled demand for medication, NHS statistics show”
Back in 2018, researchers from the University of Bristol found that there have been increases in prescribing of most anti-anxiety medications in recent years, which have been substantial in young adults (aged under 25).[1]
While overall incident benzodiazepine prescribing has fallen over time, prescribing has increased in those aged under 35. In 2017, 44 per cent of benzodiazepine prescriptions were longer than the NICE recommended maximum of four weeks — with many young adults and children on antidepressants for more than five years.
This increase shadows the previous increase in antidepressant prescriptions which nearly doubled between 2003 and 2018.[1]
“However, some prescribing is not based on robust evidence of effectiveness, may contradict guidelines, and there is limited evidence on the overall impact associated with taking antidepressants long term. As such, there may be unintended harm.”
Recent research also warned that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (also known as SSRIs) may not match the claims. New research shows the theory justifying antidepressants is a myth and depression being a chemical imbalance has been proven to be unfounded.[2]
“Have millions been taking antidepressants with harmful side-effects for decades - when there’s no scientific evidence they do what they claim? Some experts have suspected it for years. Now patients have been left reeling by a groundbreaking study”
In the most comprehensive review of the research on links between depression and serotonin ever carried out, researchers from the UK, Italy and Switzerland looked at 17 major international reviews that had documented the findings from more than 260 studies, involving 300,000 patients. Their findings, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, undermine the basis for decades of prescribing SSRIs.[3]
“For years, people have been led to believe that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, due to a deficiency of the chemical serotonin. We can safely say that after a vast amount of research conducted over several decades, there is no convincing evidence that depression is caused by serotonin abnormalities”
So, we are now witnessing an increase in global anxiety and depression (and also perhaps panic, as media coverage continues to fuel fears like they did with the war on terrorism) and an increase in antidepressant prescriptions which may not offer the relief needed. Because many people are on those drugs for a long time, the dosage must be readjusted to keep some of the effects working. Also, going off leads to withdrawal — causing the very symptoms they are supposed to ‘cure’, making it impossible for a multitude of people to ever come off these.
“Thousands of people suffer from side-effects of antidepressants, including the severe withdrawal effects that can occur when people try to stop them, yet prescription rates continue to rise. We believe this situation has been driven partly by the false belief that depression is due to a chemical imbalance. It is high time to inform the public that this belief is not grounded in science”
What is the root of the problem:
“The global antidepressants market size was USD 11.67 billion in 2019. The global impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and staggering, with depression medications witnessing a positive demand shock across all regions amid the pandemic. The global antidepressants market size was USD 11.67 billion in 2019.
The market is projected to grow to USD 18.29 billion in 2027”
Although first proposed in the 1960s, the serotonin theory of depression started to be widely promoted by the pharmaceutical industry in the 1990s in association with its efforts to market a new range of antidepressants, known as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. The idea was also endorsed by official institutions such as the American Psychiatric Association, which still tells the public that “differences in certain chemicals in the brain may contribute to symptoms of depression.”[4]
Considering the ever-increasing revenue of these drugs, it is very unlikely the pharma industry is ever going to accept that their products don’t work and that there are natural alternatives proven to work the same if not better, without any side effects.
We can observe a general increase in SSRIs sales during the COVID-19 year (March 2020 to February 2021). Numbers continue to rise still today and everyone is shown to be benefiting from the pandemic except us, the people.
Addiction to the news
In previous articles and in Energise - 30 Days to Vitality, I explain in much detail the impact of the stress response and addiction to the news and social media.
“Doomscrolling is the term for endlessly scrolling through and consuming accurate and essential, but negative news.
“It’s human nature to want to know what’s happening in the world. However, it is easy to get into negative relationships with the news cycle.”
During times of uncertainty, you might feel more compelled to watch the news which can destabilise your mental well-being. The World Health Organisation says the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide.
Back in 2020, within the space of a few weeks, we went from a state of relative normality to suffering lockdown after lockdown, with almost every aspect of our everyday lives overturned. It also didn't help that supermarket shelves looked like something from an apocalypse movie, and the news played scenes of tragedy around the clock. There was nothing else on the news. Even governments enjoy being in the limelight by using (biased) information and diagrams to fuel national fear with daily specials.
We know that stress, trauma and addiction to the news can quickly turn into PTSD and affect your resilience (your ability to cope).
“Trauma causes feelings of helplessness, and diminishes your sense of self and your ability to feel the full range of emotions.
“Everyone has a different reaction to trauma, so you might notice any effects quickly, or not for a long time afterwards.”
According to the CDC, COVID-19 was proven to be stressful for most people. It says that stress can include changes in sleep or eating patterns, worsening of mental health conditions, fear and worry about your health and the health of loved ones, and difficulty concentrating.[5]
The stress response is no longer serving us in our modern world and may work against our bodies due to our overexposure to stress and the news.
When you consume too much negative news, you activate the sympathetic nervous system causing your body to release stress hormones. This is your body's natural response to a crisis or traumatic event (e.g., you nearly got hit by a car, death in the family, losing your mobile phone).
“Unfortunately, a lot of the news we consume today isn’t so much reporting as it is a way of keeping people addicted to the news cycle”
The purpose of the stress response is to flood your bloodstream with nutrients and fuel (glucose) to help you fight or flight. Your heart rate and breathing rate also increase to allow for quicker transport of those nutrients. But, because there is no danger to run from or a beast to fight, the energy is left unused, causing damage to the blood vessels and destabilising the insulin system.
Symptoms include:
Fatigue.
Anxiety and depression
Sleep disorders (sleeping with one eye open)
Vivid dreams and nightmares, and
Gut (and other inflammatory) disorders.
As you become addicted to the news, you are reinforcing the idea that everything around you is dangerous, which also leads to the remodelling of certain areas of the brain. In other terms, negative news has the potential to exacerbate your level of anxiety and affect the way you cope with the stresses (and challenges) of daily life. Research shows that addiction to the news can cause mood swings or aggressive behaviour. It may also be a cause of PTSD and cardiovascular disease in the long term, even when the news is not directly relevant to your own life.[6]
We know that the news media use well-researched language to have you hooked on their stories.
“The constant feed of news can make people feel very helpless. Seeing what’s happening beyond the bubble of your daily life is a reminder that the world is a big and scary place. If it’s something you’re unable to resolve it can lead to checking for updates obsessively and feeling stressed that you can’t help people suffering”
Have you come to realise that engaging with a lot of news is not benefiting your mental well-being?
If you develop a habit of being constantly tuned in to the news without even realising it (watching news channels, receiving news notifications on your smartphone, etc.), then, it is time to consider reducing or altering the ways you consume news.
You may be also prone to listening to the news in the background while doing other things. This passive type of news addiction is still affecting your well-being, particularly at the subconscious level, as you may not realise how much of the news you are ingesting and how much your brain is recording.
If you are like most people who check their phone first thing in the morning, then the first thing that pops on your screen may be the news. It can also be the last thing that you see before bed (or the work email, which you thought was a good idea to read instead of going to bed mind free). You have just ignited the stress response and it is very likely that your sleep will be affected, and so the quality of sleep (you might, therefore, sleep with one eye open).
How to reduce your exposure to the news?
Turn off notifications on your phone/tablet. Having notifications for news stories appearing on your screens makes them unavoidable even when your phone/tablet is locked and you aren't using it.
Avoid mainstream media. Instead, follow independent news outlets. It is very unlikely they will follow the trend of mass scaremongering tactics of the main media.
Limit the time you spend watching the news or streaming on your devices.
Gauge how you feel before and after watching the news so you can better understand how the news is affecting your mental and physical well-being.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the news, it may be wise to tell everyone at home, so that you can control the discussions over dinner or choose a channel other than the news. Better yet, avoid the news completely and ask a family member to give you the rundown without dramatising the news out of proportion.
“Moderation is everything. Watching the news about negative events can stir up powerful negative emotions - fear, anger, shame - which can spiral out of control if not contained. The best way to cope with these emotions is not to continue to add to them but to talk about them with others. ”
Develop self-care and identify triggers. Is your interpretation of the world around you accurate or is it fuelled by stress and anxiety?
Develop mindfulness. Live in the present. Concentrate on the now and your mental health. Remember that flashing headlines and scaremongering are tactics developed to have you addicted to the news. If you understand that, then you are in a better place to control how the news is affecting you.
Develop new habits. if you instinctively turn on the news when you get home or keep on checking news apps, then replacing these unhealthy behaviours may be a lifesaving option. Delete news apps and remove notifications so you are not tempted to check the latest news — which, by the way, will be bad news.
Address all parts of your life causing you stress or low mood and pay particular attention to your diet, as gut inflammatory disorders impact your mental health and resilience. Exercise daily to supply the brain with oxygen and increase the release of feel-good neurotransmitters. It is also vital to reset your body’s circadian rhythms. Sunlight exposure is also proven to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Again, create boundaries around negative and disastrous news. If you feel a negative reaction to the news, you may want to use affirmations to help you regain focus and control over your body’s stress response. For example “scaremongering and toxic disaster reporting have no power over me. I am aware of what’s happening in the world, but it will not define me or have power over me.”
Refocus and become more centred after watching the news. Do something that supports your mental and physical well-being immediately after watching the news, like going for a walk, drinking a warm cup of herbal tea, or something else that will have a positive effect, like calling or meeting with family or friends. Remember that taking in too much information can be overwhelming and detrimental to your mental health — so the word is ‘balance’. [7,8]
While restricting your exposure to the news is important, you may want to keep young children and teenagers away from catastrophising news. Tell them in your own reassuring way what it’s all about and what everyone is talking about. Do not over-dramatise as young children may be more affected, lose their ability to develop healthy coping mechanisms and develop hopelessness, and live with the trauma for much longer, which can increase the risk of PTSD and cardiovascular disease in later life.[9,10,11]
References:
Archer, C. et al. (2022). Rise in prescribing for anxiety in UK primary care between 2003 and 2018: A population-based cohort study using Clinical Practice Research Datalink. British Journal of General Practice. 72(720), e511-e518. doi:10.3399/BJGP.2021.0561
Daily Mail. (2022). Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11033517/Have-millions-taking-antidepressants-harmful-effects-decades-no-reason.html
Moncrieff, J. et al. (2022). The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Molecular Psychiatry. doi:10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0
Moncrieff, J. Horowitz, M. (2022). UCL News. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jul/analysis-depression-probably-not-caused-chemical-imbalance-brain-new-study
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html
Johnston, WM. Davey, GCL. (1997). The psychological impact of negative TV news bulletins: The catastrophizing of personal worries. British Journal of Psychology. 88(1), pp. 85-91. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1997.tb02622.x
Szabo, A. Hopkinson, KL. (2007). Negative psychological effects of watching the news in the television: Relaxation or another intervention may be needed to buffer them!. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 14(2), pp. 57–62. doi:10.1007/BF03004169
Green, J. et al. (2021). The effect of meditation and physical activity on the mental health impact of COVID-19-related stress and attention to news among mobile app users in the United States: Cross-sectional survey. JMIR mental health. 8(4), e28479. doi:10.2196/28479
Kleemans, M., Schlindwein, L. F., & Dohmen, R. (2017). Preadolescents' Emotional and Prosocial Responses to Negative TV News: Investigating the Beneficial Effects of Constructive Reporting and Peer Discussion. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 46(9), 2060–2072. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0675-7
Kellerman, JK. et al. (2022). The mental health impact of daily news exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic: Ecological momentary assessment study. JMIR Mental Health. 9(5), e36966. doi:10.2196/36966
Gansner, M. et al. (2022). Problematic internet use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in youth in outpatient mental health treatment: App-based ecological momentary assessment study. JMIR Mental Health. 9(1), e33114. doi:10.2196/33114
Kleiman, EM. et al. (2020). Real-time mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students: Ecological momentary assessment study. JMIR Mental Health. 7(12), e24815. https://doi.org/10.2196/24815