How to Manage News Anxiety: Reduce Stress & Take Control
- Amy Simpson
- Jun 13, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 23
For many of us, the fear, anger, sadness, frustration and despair that we feel about the daily news cycle has begun to creep into our daily thoughts, change our moods, and impact our general outlook. This phenomenon is now referred to as ‘news anxiety’. Read on for strategies to mitigate our heinous news cycle, specifically managing social media.
Our body can’t tell the difference between real and perceived threats. Our 24/7 news cycle and social media channels are exposing us to more bad news than ever. And while we may feel more informed and better equipped to make decisions to help - via donations, rallies, voting, boycotts, divesting, where we spend our money etc - we are also constantly activating our nervous system, on edge, anxious and stressed. Overtime, this dysregulation of the nervous system seriously impacts our mental and physical health. During 2021, a study found that news and information shared via social media contributed to worsened fear and panic. We are now living in an age of infodemics.
The biology of stress
When we are stressed, we are activating the side of our nervous system designed for ‘fight or flight’ (now extended also to fawn and freeze) rather than our ‘rest and digest’ system. It only takes 500 milliseconds for our brain to generate a cascade of stress hormones into our bloodstream. In ‘fight or flight’ blood is diverted away from our gut and reproductive organs and into our arms and legs (so we can literally fight or run away from danger). This kind of chronic stress means the constant release of cortisol which in turn releases glucose (blood sugar) into the system so that we have the energy for this real or perceived need to fight or flight. This means energy diverted away from digestion so we cannot optimally absorb our food and nourish ourselves.
Worst of all, our body reacts to all stress the same - whether it’s a work deadline, anxious thoughts, poor diet, doom scrolling pictures of war and genocide, or literally running away from real danger. Chronic stress is also highly inflammatory, and depleting (especially of key motherhood nutrients – magnesium and B-vitamins). The hormonal cascades and protective mechanisms are the same - even if we are just on our phones.
News anxiety and motherhood
News anxiety keeps popping up with mothers in my clinic. Specifically, the way that social media contributes to sleepless nights, fear, depression, low moods and anxiety. Recognising that distressing news and social media are impacting your wellbeing is the first step to developing habits that keep you informed without impacting your health and happiness. For our own wellbeing, I present a naturopathic adaptation to the concept of scheduled worry time.
Scheduled worry time is a simple idea:
During your scheduled worry time, you can view the devastating pictures on social media and read the terrible news.
Outside of this time, you do not consume media – social or otherwise in an attempt to safeguard the nervous system.
Outside of this time, you do not let your thoughts become overwhelmed by fear and anxiety – and you take steps to ensure that the worry doesn’t begin to seep into non-worry time. This is a practice used in cognitive behavioural therapy to treat anxiety disorders. I now work with mothers in clinic to find a way that they can incorporate this strategy into their own lives as a tool to buffer the nervous system from the distress of what is happening in the news cycle, specifically social media.
Scheduling worry time with naturopathic support:
Work out a 5-minute time slot in your day when you are well nourished, well slept and feel resilient. Perhaps it is at 9:30am after a hot, protein-rich breakfast, or right before your lunch break. Do not organise your worry time right before anything important or stressful like a meeting, or driving, or picking up the kids.
Do you not have coffee right before, or during your worry time, you do not need caffeine further contributing to nervous system activation, heart palpitations and anxiety. Instead, make a strong herbal infusion. Chamomile, passionflower, oat straw, lemon balm, and lavender all calm and down-regulate the nervous system.
Be intentional with your viewing. Do not doom scroll, go specifically to the place where you will get the information that you need. Preferably, the page that you land on will be a reputable news source (I don’t necessarily mean mainstream news here, just a place/page/account that you trust – not random pages - be cautious of AI imagery and bogus go-fund-me pages).
At the end of the 5 minutes, practice the physiological sigh 5 or more times to lower your heart rate and resolve the stress hormones in your blood stream that I mentioned earlier: inhale deeply through the nose twice, then exhale fully and slowly through the mouth, aiming to empty the lungs entirely. The second breath in is really important for displacing all the carbon dioxide in your lungs so always remember two breaths in and one breath out.
Gently move your body. Activities like stretching, qi gong, yoga, and walking help release energy and resolve stress hormones. Avoid doing intense workouts like HIIT or CrossFit after your scheduled worry time because vigorous exercise triggers the same fight-or-flight response as stress. While exercise is great for reducing stress and anxiety and creating positive adaptation in the long-term, right now you need to lower and metabolise cortisol and glucose.
Actively protecting your non-worry time
Avoiding social media stories and imagery during your non-worry time may mean that you have to have a second Instagram account where the algorithm only shows you funny videos of cats. Or perhaps you abstain completely from social media and the nightly news. You can ask people to SMS you or use WhatsApp rather than DM you, so you avoid Instagram and Facebook. You could also download the separate Messenger app so that you don’t need to be on your Facebook feed to get messages. It may also mean that you stop sharing devasting imagery in your stories so that they do not linger in your presence, and you are mindful of other people’s distressing exposure. Or you put trigger warnings in your stories so that other people can avoid exposure during their non-worry time.
Long term nervous system resilience
For more information about cultivating long term resilience in your nervous system and daily practices for stress management, check out my Pillars of Health Guide.
Deeper support for intentional living
If you're looking for deeper 1:1 support, I provide holistic women's health in person in Bendigo, or to anywhere in Australia via telehealth. I have heavily discounted concession rates and love working with women to help them thrive and lead their families with intention.
Amy is a degree-qualified naturopath dedicated to helping busy, tired clients regain their energy and vitality. She combines evidence-based naturopathic medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle interventions to empower clients on their journey to optimal health. Whether it’s reclaiming energy, balancing hormones, resolving digestive issues, or enhancing overall well-being and longevity, her personalised approach focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of health concerns. With a Bachelor of Health Science, ongoing studies in a Master of Advanced Practice, and full membership in the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia, Amy offers a unique blend of traditional wisdom and science to support individuals and families at every stage of life.
References and further reading
Ahmad A, Murad H. The Impact of Social Media on Panic During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iraqi Kurdistan: Online Questionnaire Study J Med Internet Res 2020;22(5):e19556 https://www.jmir.org/2020/5/e19556 DOI: 10.2196/19556
https://teach.mindfulnessexercises.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Scheduling-Worry-Time.pdf
Thau L, Gandhi J, Sharma S. Physiology, Cortisol. [Updated 2023 Aug 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538239/
Chellappa, S. L., & Aeschbach, D. (2022). Sleep and anxiety: From mechanisms to interventions. Sleep medicine reviews, 61, 101583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101583
Scott-Solomon, E., Boehm, E., & Kuruvilla, R. (2021). The sympathetic nervous system in development and disease. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 22(11), 685–702. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-021-00523-y
Borza L. (2017). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 19 (2), 203–208. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/lborza
Fiani, B., Zhu, L., Musch, B. L., Briceno, S., Andel, R., Sadeq, N., & Ansari, A. Z. (2021). The Neurophysiology of Caffeine as a Central Nervous System Stimulant and the Resultant Effects on Cognitive Function. Cureus, 13(5), e15032. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.15032
Dupuy, O., Douzi, W., Theurot, D., Bosquet, L., & Dugué, B. (2018). An Evidence-Based Approach for Choosing Post-exercise Recovery Techniques to Reduce Markers of Muscle Damage, Soreness, Fatigue, and Inflammation: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in physiology, 9, 403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00403
Lorenz, D., & Morrison, S. (2015). CURRENT CONCEPTS IN PERIODIZATION OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING FOR THE SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPIST. International journal of sports physical therapy, 10(6), 734–747.
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