How Does Being Continuously Expose To Bad News Effect Our Lives?
Even if we are unaware, we’re inevitably exposed to many negative news and events every single minute
By introducing the internet and mobile devices into our lives, we follow every second of what is happening all over the world with a few simple finger movements. However, it was a laborious task to find out what was happening in the world, not even in our country, 20–30 years ago.
I’m seriously at a level of being extremely annoyed when I open any of my social media apps on my phone or computer. Especially Twitter. Besides cute dog photos or funny videos I do not wish to follow any news profile anymore, but guess what? I have to. Even if I don’t follow any news profiles or personas, they still come up somehow because my friend retweeted the tweet or someone replied to it. Of course, there are bad things happening in the world and I sometimes spend some time reading and learning what's happening but this doesn't mean I always have to have a negative thing right in front of my eyes when I pick up my phone to look at something else, right?
So How Does This Bad News Affect Us?
According to some psychologists, exposure to negative and violent news can have serious and long-term psychological effects beyond simple pessimism and exclusion.
According to Graham Davey’s studies, British psychologist Dr. Violent says news can cause or increase the severity of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Davey told the Huffington Post:
“Negative news can significantly affect individuals’ moods. This effect can be even more devastating, especially if there is a tendency in news broadcasts to emphasize pain and emotional components of the story. ”“Exposure to negative news can make people see their personal worries bigger and more threatening than they are, and when people start to worry about them, it can be harder than usual to control them.”
Some studies have suggested that exposure to traumatic images in the media can cause symptoms such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). A 2001 study found that watching the 9/11 Events on television is sufficient to trigger PTSD symptoms (such as worrying about future terrorist attacks and diminishing viewer confidence). However, according to the research, the severity of symptoms was directly related to the amount of time spent watching television.
Please see the journals for more information:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15792033/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2054270414533323
A 2014 study of journalists writing violent news showed that journalists who were regularly exposed to violent video footage scored higher on PTSD indexes, and also found that these people were more prone to alcohol consumption, depression, and somatization disorders. According to research, although the situation does not seem heartwarming, the world is not going in a completely negative direction as it is written in the headlines. On the contrary, the average quality of life has increased and violent incidents have declined considerably since the past.
Do you agree with the research findings? The average quality of life could be increased but unfortunately, I do not believe the violent incidents have declined since the past.
