Broken by breaking news?

In 2016 a therapist, Dr Steven Stosny, coined the term ‘Headline Stress Disorder’ in response to the increasing number of psychological studies demonstrating the link between the 24/7 news cycle and anxiety, sadness and hopelessness. It seems that the obsession with breaking news is breaking us.

Technology Pete Nicholas

As I write this we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and if you go to any mainstream news outlet, their homepage will have a ‘live’ feed to coronavirus updates. This is now the common response to any breaking news story: set up a live feed for minute-by-minute information. But, while such updates can be helpful, they also have a powerful effect on us.