Earlier this week, I wrote about the importance of limiting our exposure to news each day, in order to maintain our mental well-being. I also wrote about being a critical thinker of information, and I want to speak to that a little more today, just briefly. I think it is incredibly important!
Research tells us that the amount of news we consume greatly impacts our mental health. Heavy consumption of stressful, negative news can deplete our resiliency by overwhelming us with feelings of despondence, hopelessness, stress, anger, and fear, among others. At the same time, it is necessary that we stay abreast of the news, in order to understand the evolving scientific understanding of the pandemic, the events around the civil unrest, and many other important current events across the world. So, my suggestion, based on research, is to balance the need for information with the need to minimize our exposure to the overwhelming negativity in a way that works for you. 30 minutes of news consumption per day seems like a good starting point, and for you it might need adjusting to slightly less or more than that. Gauge your response to the information to determine if your exposure needs adjusting.
While I have already spoken about the importance of using caution when choosing WHERE you get your information, this cannot be stressed enough, which is why I am writing about it again. I am not going to tell you WHERE to get your information, as that is a very personal, and often politically influenced, decision. But I will remind you of my previous post about being a critical thinker and consumer of information, thinking about the motivation of the information provider, their potential biases, their credibility (are they an expert) in the area to which they are speaking, and your own biases (are you only seeking information that confirms your current beliefs?). There are a couple more steps we can take in our effort to be confident the information we are consuming is accurate and complete.
First, make sure you read or listen to the information carefully and completely. One place this is easy to skip is social media. Have you ever seen a post on social media that is a link to a news article, and you responded after reading the title, without clicking on the link to actually read the article/listen to the podcast, etc.? Resist the temptation to read a headline and draw conclusions about the story in its entirety. First, you need to know the DATE the article was actually written, so you know it is CURRENT. Second, please recognize that headlines are designed to be catchy, and they don't always tell you what you need to know from the entire article. Reading the entire article gives you the whole picture, not just the caption. Listening to the entire podcast or the entire news report is necessary to get the entire picture.
After reading or listening to a news bite, check the facts. Two quick ways to do that is to check what other news sources have to day about the issue. Second, use fact checking sources like factcheck.org or snopes.com. These nonpartisan organizations' goal is to fact check information daily.
There is a lot happening, and in the United States, Fridays have turned into information frenzies. So, be careful! Limit your exposure, and be a careful consumer, by choosing sources well, and fact checking the information.
Okay, be well! Stay safe! I'd like to say "Happy Friday", but that certainly does not have the same meaning anymore. We will just leave it at "have a great day".
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