The Anxiety Behind Daily News and How I Escaped It

Why I Stopped Watching the News (And You Might Want To)

Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash

Do you watch the news every day?

I was also once among those people who watched the news on television channels every day. If I couldn’t watch the news on any given day, a strange anxiety would set in. It felt as though a lot must have happened in the country and the world, and I remained unaware of it.

There was an unknown fear in my heart that perhaps some important matter might be missed, perhaps I might remain ignorant of something that would later cause me loss.

Then one day I asked myself a question:

“What am I gaining by watching the news every day?”

By that time, the media, especially news channels, had lost much of their credibility. There was less news and more noise. There was less information and more emotional hysteria.

There were fewer solutions to problems and more hatred, division, and sensationalism.

I decided that I would no longer watch news channels.

This was not an easy decision for me. For someone who was accustomed to watching the news every day, quitting the news was like quitting an addiction.

In the beginning, many times it seemed that perhaps I was cutting myself off from the world, perhaps my knowledge would diminish, perhaps I would miss out on a lot.

But today, it has been eight years since that decision.

And today I can say with complete certainty that I have not missed anything important.

The world continued on. Governments in the country continued to form and change. Global events continued to occur. Crises came and went.

But there was no loss in my life that was solely because I did not watch the news channels every day.

However, I did gain one thing.

Peace.

I realized that knowing every piece of news is not necessary. Participating in every discussion is not necessary.

Remaining informed about every conflict, every statement, every accusation, and every sensational event is not a guarantee of mental health; rather, it often proves to be harmful to it.

Watching the news continuously can make a person restless, angry, disappointed, and fearful. Gradually, we begin to carry the burden of those world problems on our minds — problems that we neither create nor have the power to solve.

Even today, I am not completely detached from the news. The only difference is that now I do not let the news dominate me.

I only know about those topics, events, and issues that are truly important. I read most news from credible and independent sources.

Sometimes I listen to some honest journalist or analyst on an important matter. But I have removed the twenty-four-hour noise from my life.

And this decision has improved my mental state.

If you too are drowning in the flood of daily news, then pause for a moment and ask yourself:

Is it really necessary to know all of this?

Is this information making my life better?

Or is it only adding to my anxiety?

Remove this fear from within you that if you don’t watch the news one day, you will miss out on a lot.

Believe me, most things are not worth missing.

Not every piece of news is for you, not every event deserves your attention, and not every problem is your responsibility.

Prioritize your mental health.

Do not let the worries of the world dominate your own concerns, because life is not just about being informed; it is also about being at peace.

This is not a philosophy; it is my eight-year experience.

Edited for Word Garden by Wandering Mind