Social Media/News Makes It Worse

[its1111]

Does anyone find that social media and news coverage makes your health anxiety THAT much worse? I feel like every time I open my Facebook page or turn on the TV, there is some horrific story about an illness, or death, or disease or anything. It makes my mind spin because I start thinking "What if that happens to me? What if I am the young wife that leaves behind her husband and children from illness?" It is especially bad if something terrible happens to someone I know...hits closer to home.

I hope this doesn't sound crazy to you! It's pretty hard to avoid nowadays, though. I enjoy social media as a way to keep up with friends, and I would like to be able to watch the news without feeling as though everything is terrible. I suppose all these things happened years ago as well, but the media just didn't cover it as much...

[DYLCC15]

OMG, I can totally relate to that. My problem was finding illnesses such as ALS, and MS are becoming more prevalent at a younger age and I swore that I was going to be that 1% that got the illness based on articles I have found on social media and other outlets on the wonderful internet.

Dyl

[sial72]

I had to stop watching the news and especially reading the Daily Mail app :)

[DYLCC15]

Yeah those are not good. They always focus on the negative, and someone with anxiety does not need any extra negative outside influence.

Dyl

[Katiej36]

Couldn't agree more!! So strange for this thread to be posted today! I literally turned to my boyfriend earlier and said to him 'I have to delete my daily mail app' and I did it! He was so shocked because that's all I would ever look at, I'm not your typical 18 year old girl..reading the news more than my Twitter feed😂

But I found recently since my ha has flared up I would scan the news and pick out all of the worst stories about people finding out they only have two weeks left because of cancer, and people dying in freak accidents..it became a sick habit because it's all I could focus on. I feel a lot better since deleting that app!

[sial72]

Couldn't agree more!! So strange for this thread to be posted today! I literally turned to my boyfriend earlier and said to him 'I have to delete my daily mail app' and I did it! He was so shocked because that's all I would ever look at, I'm not your typical 18 year old girl..reading the news more than my Twitter feed😂

But I found recently since my ha has flared up I would scan the news and pick out all of the worst stories about people finding out they only have two weeks left because of cancer, and people dying in freak accidents..it became a sick habit because it's all I could focus on. I feel a lot better since deleting that app!
I had GAD and agoraphobia fir years but my health anxiety only started when I got the Daily Mail app, this is true. But I have not deleted because I love reading the comments in the showbizz section, but tha is all I allow myself to look at :roflmao:

[its1111]

I hate you all deal with this, but I'm glad I am not the only one! I love reading news apps and watching the news in the morning, but I feel so much of it is negative! I think it has gotten worse in recent years as the media is trying to over exaggerate everything. Ugh! It makes me crazy....

[white1989]

I can totally relate to this ! I have just read an article on the Daily Mal app about a young man discovering he had cancer (younger than me) and I was immediately relating his symptoms to myself and convincing myself I had the same.....its horrible! I know I should stay away from these sites but I love catching up on other news just can't bare the sad health related stories! :(

[nj]

A post on social media is what triggered my latest bout with HA. Normally I'm so good at avoiding them but this one had a picture with it and I spiraled from there.

[Gregg_]

I totally relate to this. I now avoid reading certain things after my own health fears and scares, even though as my therapist rightly says, it doesn't actually make sense to do that.

But like you say, you can't click on a news page these days without some article about a horrible illness or doctor's not believing someone who was seriously ill.

[Susanne81]

I think it does. I worked at a student television station at my university, worked as a newspaper reporter for several years and am now a freelance writer. There is an old saying in the news business that goes, "If it bleeds, it leads." That means that the more shocking, the more sensational, the more frightening, the more horrible a story is, the more likely it is to get the front page or be the top story on the tv. The media prey on people's fears this way and generate more readers or ratings by scaring people. It's quite sad when you think about what they are doing.

---------- Post added at 15:56 ---------- Previous post was at 15:54 ----------

I also think some members of the medical community are to blame, as they go right along with the fearmongering put forth by the media. I don't think frightening people is good for their emotional OR physical health at all.

[phil06]

The news has gave me anxiety too lately. Especially all the depressing stories anybody else feel this way and is distraction the best way to avoid feeling low about it?

[MyNameIsTerry]

For me I taught myself to look at it as an opportunity for discussion. I found myself wanting to read the news and would always check the nationals when I went in the supermarket. So, I gave my exposure a useful purpose other than about anxiety.

[uru]

Wow! So many fail Mail readers...

[daisyflower]

It makes my anxiety a lot worse. However, you have to remind yourself why it's in the news. The 28 year old girl with terminal lung cancer makes the news because it's so incredibly rare...if it was a likely thing to happen, it would be happening regularly and thus would never make the news. Car crashes killing one don't make the Daily Mail...neither do people over the aged of 50 dying of a heart attack or 80 year old pipe smokers getting throat cancer.
I don't usually read those stories and avoid movies about cancer as I know I will only feel worse X