Psychiatrist on how to put scary news into perspective and get some peace

Put your hand up if you never want to hear the word ‘unprecedented’ ever again? You are not alone.
In the last few years, we have lived through major history-defining moments – the pandemic, political fallouts, war in Europe, cost-of-living, the energy crisis – the list is almost too long to mention. And the reality is that it has had an impact on the way that we feel.
New research reveals that a third of us now hide away from the news entirely – with many switching off when the intro music begins.
A quarter of Brits say they now feel “scared” by the news – panicking whenever the buzz alert goes off on our phones.
And the knock on effect of this is bad too – 34% say that their sleep over the last 12 months has taken a nosedive too with many having sleepless nights.
Some Brits have even suggested potentially moving the 10 o clock news so it has less of an effect on us!
On top of this, friends and family have stopped debating big subjects which may change the course of our lives simply to avoid potential arguments – have you ever had a friend or family member tell you “we don’t talk about that” well, it may be for more self-preservation reasons rather than rows itself. Right now people feel a genuine sense of worry when it comes to these subjects and so are not wanting to confront it.
Now, some may argue that knowing is better than not knowing – but according to the data some would rather be in the dark on certain subjects to protect their calm, wellbeing and sleep.
So what can be done? We’re joined by trained psychotherapist, Charlotte Armitage, to get into why the news impacts us so much and we can do to get a bit of peace…

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