How To Limit Your News Consumption While Staying Informed, From An Integrative MD

With the world in a state of uncertainty, gathering information is one way to feel in control. But over-consuming the news—especially bad news—may not be doing your mental state any favors. So how can you limit news intake while staying informed?

Self-preservation (otherwise known as the fight-or-flight response) is a natural, biological process. "As humans, we need to be informed in order to protect ourselves," Nerurkar says. This is why, even when the news is negative, we often feel compelled to read it. 

Staying up-to-date is important, but when you've started looking at the news for three or more hours per day, it becomes maladaptive, meaning, what started out as beneficial, suddenly becomes harmful.

"Think of it like exercise," Nerurkar says. "It's good for you, right? But if you do it for hours on end, it becomes unhealthy."

Right now, you're probably already in heightened states of stress, according to Nerurkar. Therefore, consuming COVID-19 news in excess—whatever your definition of that is—will only heighten your stress response. 

You have to parent yourself, the same way you would restrict excess screen time for a child. While there is no "right" amount of time to spend consuming the news, one hour per day is generally reasonable—but not all in one sitting.

While the news is incredibly valuable, reading too much of it in stressful times can affect physical and mental health—which is exactly what we want to protect right now.