It is okay to hit pause on the doom and engage with your life, whether that means going outside with the kids or just losing yourself on the silly side of TikTok. It’s necessary for everyone’s mental health.
“It’s really important for us to give ourselves permission to set boundaries about our news consumption and social media,” says Kristen Choi, an assistant professor of health policy and management at UCLA and a psychiatric nurse who works with kids and adults. “That constant influx of traumatic images and content can really wear on our minds.”
Many people are already burned out from the pandemic, Choi says, and their reserves for coping and dealing with stress are low. It’s a recipe for anxiety and depression. On top of that, constant exposure to violence and bad news can warp our thinking. It can give people a negative bias in how they view the world. Choi says it can cause people to see everything in absolutes — for example, thinking that if they take a break from the news that means they don’t care about the issue. Finally, it can lead people to think the worst possible outcomes are going to happen, known as catastrophizing.
