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.
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.
There is a kind of addictive quality to these updates. FOMO (fear of missing out) is no longer just about the latest consumer product, but in our up-to-date age we consume ever-increasing quantities of news and information. This creates an overload problem: we are just overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information coming at us; it is like trying to take a sip of water from a fire hydrant.
