With news and social media focused on the tragic events happening around the world, you may feel you lack control over the outcome or an inability to really make a difference. This post from AfterDeployment explains why and offers ways to let go.

…There is a happy medium between consuming the news and becoming consumed with the news. Since the introduction of 24-hour news networks, we rarely get to the end of a news story. There will always be additional details, interviews and expert opinions on important topics. News websites have provided us nearly instant access to important information, but they are designed to pull us in and send us off to related stories. There will never be a message saying, “That’s it. You know everything there is to know about this topic. Go take a walk.”

Following a tragedy, it’s common to feel powerless. We feel a lack of control over the events, but also an inability to make a difference. For these reasons, watching or reading the news can lower your mood, cause anxiety, and raise your heart rate. Sometimes it can even cause nightmares and other signs of stress caused by exposure to trauma (studies show that stress was frequent after watching the events of 9/11, for example). Although it’s important to understand current events, it’s also essential to understand how getting absorbed in the news can affect you. Watching a video of a tragedy one time can be informative. Watching it several times may be a sign that it’s time for you to turn off the news.

Read the full article on the AfterDeployment website to find out what you can do to keep from being overcome by negative news media. For more on this topic, check out our past blog post about feeling overwhelmed by the news.