The Internet and television are overwhelmed in an effort to outdo each other in the level of toxicity. Heavy information for the psyche begins to be transmitted from mouth-to-mouth, people begin to pump not only themselves, but also loved ones.
What is “information poisoning”?
As an analogy, we can give the example of food poisoning. If you use a product in large volumes, which in itself is not particularly useful, the body will give an appropriate reaction. Also with negative news. In small doses, such information causes moderate damage to the psyche. If you abuse such content, then sooner or later the psyche will begin to protest.
Symptoms
Like any other poisoning, an overabundance of unpleasant information makes itself felt with a number of unpleasant symptoms:
- General reduced mood background;
- Constant feeling of anxiety, tension;
- Chronic desire to discuss with others the latest news;
- Short temper, vulnerability;
- Anger at people who have a different vision of the situation;
- Dependence on “doomscrolling” (obsessive desire to constantly monitor news resources).
It is easy to understand that such a person becomes an unpleasant interlocutor. Especially for those who themselves are susceptible to someone else’s emotional state and easily become infected with it.
The first step to deliverance
Work with any psychological problem begins with the recognition of its existence. Only when a person realizes that he is mired in an information swamp that destroys his life, it will make sense to take a step towards change. To fully experience how news intoxication affects the condition, you can use a simple technique.
On a piece of paper you need to write answers to the following questions:
- Why do I check the news all the time?
- How much time a day do I spend on this?
- What could I spend that time on?
- What price do I pay for my habit?
The answers to these questions will help to form an awareness of the price that a person pays for his addiction. After that, it will be much easier to start the path to deliverance.
How to Cope with the Habit of Consuming Negativity
The psyche, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Therefore, you can not just take and remove a habit from your life without replacing it with something else. The main focus of information detox is the formation of new, productive behavior.
Sample step-by-step instructions:
- Acknowledging that an issue exists.
- Awareness of the cost of problem behavior.
- Finding a productive and meaningful alternative to destructive behavior.
- Incorporate new behaviors into your daily schedule.
- Formation of a new habit.
It is important to understand that a new habit needs to be introduced into life gradually. You can’t just “turn off” the old. For example, at first, you just need to limit yourself to the time that is spent viewing news sources. And the freed up time to occupy a new, useful activity (for example, reading fiction). After two weeks in this format, the condition will already begin to improve.
Is it easy?
No, it won’t be easy. Getting rid of a bad habit is always associated with stress. But it is better to endure a temporary unpleasant period in order to live happier later than to be in a state of chronic anxiety.
The really important news will find you by themselves. Therefore, one should not have any illusions that news intoxication allows one to maintain control over the situation. It’s just an addiction that our self-control chooses to slightly reduce the degree of tension inside. But then it works exactly the opposite, only increasing the tension. A mechanism that works similarly with smoking or alcohol.
Do not stuff yourself with negativity. It is important to keep your mind even in the most difficult periods. Both for yourself and for loved ones.
Vsevolod Yefimov