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If the constant barrage of news is leaving you feeling anxious, stunned, deflated, or paralyzed\u2014particularly when it comes to getting through the regular tasks of your day, from work<\/a> to childcare<\/a>\u2014you are definitely not alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime we\u2019re faced with a moment of uncertainty, our brain is going to go into that \u2018fight or flight\u2019 mode\u2014which is really just our body\u2019s way of installing a pause point to figure out how best to navigate through a crisis,\u201d explains therapist Arianna Galligher, director of the Gabbe Well-Being Office<\/a> and the Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program<\/a> at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. \u201cI think what makes it so challenging to function as typical\u2014particularly when the threat is more of an existential nature, and there\u2019s nothing concrete to do\u2014there really isn\u2019t any place for that adrenaline and cortisol to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFight or flight,\u201d Galligher explains, is the shorthand way of referring to the release of chemicals that occurs in the brain when it perceives some sort of a threat. \u201cIt can manifest in different kinds of behavioral reactions,\u201d she says. On one end is the \u201cfight\u201d trauma response, \u201cwhere you\u2019re going to try to stand up against whatever that threat may be,\u201d she tells Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n On the other end is \u201cflight,\u201d meaning your instinct will be to run away from or avoid the situation. Then there\u2019s \u201cfreeze,\u201d which is \u201cwhere a lot of people sort of feel paralyzed, because it\u2019s really hard to find any action to take,\u201d Galligher explains. And then there\u2019s \u201cfawn,\u201d where we \u201cjust sort of give up, surrender, and or try to placate the situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n How an individual responds depends on many things\u2014the situation, one\u2019s previous life experiences, and simply how you\u2019re wired. \u201cBut whatever your reaction is, it\u2019s really meant to help you survive through that crisis,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Particularly in the aftermath of an event such as the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, she adds, \u201cWe\u2019re all sort of collectively trying to make sense of what happened. What does it mean? How do we move forward? What\u2019s going to happen next? I think there\u2019s a little bit of dread that is really common to accompany events like this, where it\u2019s like, where does it end?\u201d<\/p>\n What if you\u2019re not feeling particularly frozen, but instead find yourself snapping at your spouse? That could be another response to bad-news overload, explains Maryland-based therapist Steven Stosny<\/a>, who coined the phrase \u201cheadline stress disorder<\/a>\u201d during the 2016 election cycle, referring to stress and anxiety triggered by news headlines\u2014and fueled by 24-hour news cycles, social media, ongoing wars, and increasing vitriol\u2014that spills into work, social, and family life.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnxiety is a general central nervous system response,\u201d Stosny, the author of Soar Above: How to Use the Most Profound Part of Your Brain Under Any Kind of Stress,<\/em> tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIn other words, it\u2019s not specific to what triggered it. It\u2019s your brain\u2019s way of processing your entire environment\u2014and anger is always an attribution of blame. And the law of blame is that eventually it goes to the closest person.\u201d<\/p>\n That, he says, is \u201cclassic Freudian displacement of anger.\u201d In his practice, where he specializes in people dealing with chronic resentment, anger, and emotional abuse, he started asking clients what had happened immediately before an argument back in 2016. \u201cOver 80% of the time it was that they had been getting news alerts on their smartphone \u2026 So your threshold of anger is greatly lowered, and it doesn\u2019t take as much to trigger it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world keeps turning,\u201d says Galligher. And to do that ourselves, she says, \u201cwe do have to be a little bit intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n If you feel overwhelmed or stuck or unable to concentrate, start by taking a few deep breaths while taking stock of where you are right now. \u201cIt makes sense that your mind might go to a little bit of a catastrophic place,\u201d she says, but ask yourself, \u201cWhat\u2019s right here in front of you right now? \u2026 What is it that you actually have some control over in terms of what you\u2019re going to focus on next?\u201d Maybe what you can control is stepping away from whatever you\u2019re doing for a few minutes and taking a break.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe what you can control is setting limits with how much you engage with certain forms of media right now,\u201d she suggests (for example: stop doomscrolling<\/a>). \u201cCan you adjust your dose of the news to be a little bit more in line with what\u2019s going to help you function throughout the day?\u201d Give yourself permission to check news updates maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but never close to bedtime<\/a>, knowing that \u201c if there really is some kind of dire breaking news \u2026 they will come across multiple avenues, so we\u2019re not going to miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n Stosny recommends disabling all news alerts\u2014as well as spending more time being active and in nature, and making time to really connect with friends and family.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re always going to be anxious or angry when you focus on things you can\u2019t control\u2014that\u2019s why people get angry about politics and religion, things that can\u2019t really influence,\u201d Stosny says. \u201cSo if you focus on what you can influence, which is your own behavior, the well-being of your family, things that are really important,\u201d he says, that will be calming.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also vital, notes Stosny, is to remember and appreciate your ability to cope with difficult things. \u201cThe less you know about [a stressful bit of news], the more anxious you\u2019re going to be about it. And the wild card is your perceived ability to cope,\u201d he says, explaining that, in other words, you\u2019re worried that something bad is going to happen\u2014the candidate you hate wins, for example\u2014and you\u2019re not going to be able to handle it. \u201cYou don\u2019t think you can cope with it,\u201d he says, \u201cbut of course, you will. Other candidates have won before, and you coped with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n You can then take it a step further, Stosny recommends: First, slow down your thoughts. \u201cThe anxious thoughts go by very fast, much faster than conscious attention, and you need to slow them down \u2026 as each thought is stimulating a little bit of cortisol<\/a>, and some of them are stimulating adrenaline for that fight or flight response.\u201d Next, assign each worry a probability, and then make a concrete list of what you could do if your worst fear comes true.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everybody needs a support system and some space for processing their anxieties with those people, Galligher says\u2014with a caveat: \u201cI think engaging with your support system can be really therapeutic, as long as you put a frame around it so that you\u2019re not feeding off of each other\u2019s catastrophic thought process.\u201d It\u2019s all about being intentional about accessing mutual support in your discussions\u2014and knowing how to walk it back when it starts to \u201cget too far into a realm of Armageddon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nAnother common response is anger<\/h2>\n
How do we keep going? Be intentional\u2014and stop doomscrolling.<\/h2>\n
Focus on what you can<\/em> control<\/h2>\n
Have boundaries\u2014and give yourself permission for distractions<\/h2>\n