Constant breaking news and its impact on students’ mental health
In a world full of persistent media, it can be hard to keep track of what is going on and where. It is no secret that the digital age can make it easy to stay informed, but like with most things, there are downsides.
College students, who have much to think about already, find fast news overwhelming at times.
“I see news from different sources daily. It feels like it is just one thing after another,” Rayna Welsch (‘28) said.
Following a variety of news sources is a necessity when trying to stay informed on current events. Finding the news is not the problem, though—it is trying to sort through the flood of information that makes news hard to keep up with.
“If there was less news, it would be easier to follow along in a healthy amount. Right now, once you find yourself trying to figure out what is going on, there is always so much to read about. You can become obsessive in an unhealthy way. There comes a point where you just need to be like, ‘OK, I’m going to put the phone down now,’” Welsch added.
As a reminder, the counseling center is available for all students. Therapy is a great resource for any student feeling overwhelmed.
Cognitive psychology plays a very important role when it comes to consuming media. Cognitive psychology is the way information is processed through thoughts and experience, along with the way we react to that information.
According to the official website of the National Institution of Health, the influx of constant and sometimes fake news can have a great impact on people’s cognitive psychology by influencing public opinion, creating cognitive biases as well as decreasing societal trust.
Media manipulation can occur when news outlets produce mass amounts of stories that may be fake or dramatized to cause stress. This is done in order to minimize the real, ongoing political issues.
“Open and accessible news and free expression are bedrocks of democracy, so whatever trends in media that work to limit access to information are detrimental to democracy; however, media manipulation is also easier when there is too much media to fact check, and when media companies are not held accountable,” said Dr. Scott Henson, professor of political science.
“So, vast amounts of news and media are both a blessing and a curse in a democracy. I think we need to think more about how we balance the need for access with accountability,” he said.
Checking for credibility is essential in these times. The Maryville College online Library proves itself as a helpful tool, as well as fact checking websites such as FactCheck.Org and AllSides.Com.
“My impression is that people who are intentional about choosing their sources of news and media with some filter that checks credibility typically stay engaged in politics in positive ways,” Henson added.
“Passive consumers of the media tend to become disenchanted (can’t trust anyone) or susceptible to more extreme polarization (can only trust my team), which can both be challenges to a functioning democracy.”