Body
As people read new headlines over the weekend about deadly U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and the possibility of a wider conflict, clinicians said many may feel stress and anxiety even when the events are far away. Psychiatrists and psychologists told The Associated Press that these reactions can be expected in the face of extreme circumstances, while also emphasizing that the way people consume news can change how intense the distress becomes.
Michael S. Ziffra, a Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine professor and psychiatrist, said, “Fear, sadness, confusion… these are very normal reactions to very extreme circumstances,” adding that, “People shouldn’t feel guilty, or they shouldn’t feel like it’s wrong to feel anxiety.” He also said that “It’s a very normal human response” and that the key is to “know how to manage it.” Ziffra described how many people turn to news and social conversation when they feel overwhelmed, but he said persistent rumination can become harmful.
Ziffra said he has “absolutely, without question” seen an uptick in patients bringing up anxiety provoked by current news since 2020, which he described as a period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, social and political unrest and weather-related disasters. He said some patients vent, others discuss obsessively scrolling on social media, and still others describe feeling helpless and frustrated. The clinicians said those feelings are normal and to be expected, and in some cases people can respond by taking constructive steps such as getting involved in advocacy, joining a social or political organization, or contacting lawmakers.
Experts also described how modern information routines may amplify distress. The Associated Press report said people can be exposed to breaking developments continuously through phone alerts and algorithms that push posts, and that videos and images of disasters can spread quickly. Dana Rose Garfin, a psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said people do not necessarily consume news the way they used to—rather than reading a newspaper or watching a nightly segment, they are “much more exposed” to current events.
Garfin said in any crisis, people look to the media for information, which she described as a “very logical, rational and helpful reaction.” She said her research has identified a “reciprocal effect,” where an event happens, people seek more information about it, and they become distressed. In describing the next part of the cycle, she said it can “activate these processes where then they’re both more distressed and want to know more about this event because they’re distressed.”
To reduce that spiral, experts said people should consume information more responsibly. One major recommendation was to eliminate or cut down on social media and avoid obsessive “doomscrolling.” Roxane Cohen Silver, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, said she intentionally avoids social media as a deliberate step to protect her own “mental, and physical, health,” and she raised concerns about repeated exposure to graphic content. “I think that one can stay informed without immersing oneself in graphic images,” Cohen Silver said.
Garfin suggested shifting to “enjoyable” ways of taking in information, including reading an informative news article, listening to a podcast or watching a news segment, rather than letting algorithms “suck you in for eternity in a mindless fashion.” Experts also urged people to set timers for scrolling on their phones, noting that both iPhones and Android devices include controls that can help regulate screen time.
Ziffra also advised choosing news sources with care, saying people should “Try to avoid things where it’s very partisan and where there’s going to be a lot of inflammatory content, because that’s going to likely exacerbate your anxiety and make you feel anxious, angry, scared.” Even when events are thousands of miles away and do not directly affect someone, clinicians said the stress can still be intense, making coping strategies important.
Garfin said people have “a lot of inherent knowledge of what helps them… and things that they find comfort in, which is different for everybody.” She and other experts listed approaches such as breathing exercises, going for a walk, leaning into hobbies, getting together with friends, talking to a therapist, creative pursuits and self care, emphasizing the need to redirect attention away from repeated worrying.
Ziffra said people can look for “Things that are going to get your mind off of all of the obsessing and worrying and really putting your thoughts on something more positive.” The clinicians’ central message, as they described it, was that while anxiety can be a normal response to distressing news, people can manage it by changing how they consume information and by building alternatives that reduce emotional exhaustion.