How a News Fast can Save Your Sanity

There’s a popular cartoon circulating on the internet of one person saying to another, “my desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.” I think most of us can relate to that sentiment considering the sheer volume of news coming at us from everywhere.

Many years ago I read Dr. Andrew Weil’s book 8 Weeks to Optimum Health. One of the recommendations he gave was to occasionally go on a news fast. During a news fast you abstain from watching, reading, or listening to the news for several days for up to a week. Dr. Weil makes it clear that it’s not to make you uninformed but that “paying attention to news commonly results in depression, anxiety, rage, and other emotional states” that can impact your mental health.

According to a report (https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/11/lowest-point.aspx) by the American Psychological Association, respondents to a survey felt a conflict between staying informed and the stress brought on by following the news. “While most adults (95 percent) say they follow the news regularly, 56 percent say that doing so causes them stress.” It was suggested that we take a long look at what kind of media we follow and how often we follow it in order to find a healthy balance.

When my husband and I lived in the US we listened to NPR every morning. We enjoyed the in-depth reporting on various topics and it gave us a synopsis of national as well as local news. We expected to continue this habit after moving from the US by listening to our hometown NPR station online. It was at least a month before we got our internet set up and by that time neither of us wanted to hear the news from home nor abroad. It felt like an intrusion on our peace.

A friend of mine made an announcement recently that she was taking a break from Facebook to “stay clear of the political energy”. Is she being a bad citizen or pretending these events aren’t happening by not keeping up to date on the news? Not at all. This is her way of creating a boundary to protect herself.

We are inundated by news from far many more sources than we were even just ten years ago and we need to create healthy boundaries in order to shield ourselves. While you may not have the power to control world events you do have the power to control what you put into your realm of awareness by making a conscious decision about how much news you allow into your life..

How often do we compulsively tap an app on our phones? There is no mindfulness to this compulsion (or any compulsion, really) and it rarely makes your day better. Start to notice how you feel when you turn on the news or open a news app or even scroll through Facebook. Between the “fake” news and the irritating comments from those with whom you disagree, and the real life bad news, a simple tap on an icon can open a Pandora’s Box that would trigger anyone’s anxiety. To paraphrase Gandhi it’s like “letting someone walk through your mind with their dirty feet”.

Here are some things you can do to help you succeed at a news fast.

Start slow if you’re afraid to jump right into a full week with no news. Begin with one day and build from there at your own pace.

Delete Facebook, Twitter, and any news apps from your phone and tablet. Don’t worry. You can always download them again later but at least the temptation won’t be there while you’re fasting. Who knows? You may enjoy not having such easy access to news at the end of your fast and never re-install them.

Download meditation music onto your phone and keep a set of earbuds with you at all times. Tell yourself you are making a decision to choose peace over the cacophony of the news cycles.

Bring a book with you (or see above tip) if you’re going to be somewhere where there may be a television, such as a waiting room. It’s incredibly difficult to not get caught up in what’s on the television while you’re waiting.

If you have a habit of listening to the news on your commute, change that habit. Get reacquainted with the music you used to enjoy or find some engaging podcasts. You might be surprised by how changing that drive time routine can create a healthier one after your fast is over.

After the news fast try to curtail the amount of news you follow on a daily basis. Limit it to once a day (preferably not at bedtime) and set a time limit. You will learn to mindfully prioritize which news sources to follow this way.

It’s possible to find the balance between staying well-informed and keeping your sanity. And rest assured; the world will continue to turn without you monitoring its every move. This is self-care. You deserve some peace.

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