Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Today news addiction has become more common with the proliferation of news channels and sources. Because news is continuous, they can make you feel connected to the world, but in reality it makes you less likely to interact with real life. Worst of all, news stories may incorrectly depict the content of events, they are designed to attract viewers for advertising purposes, and maintain a false mindset. If you apply some practical advice and address the underlying cause of your news addiction, you will restore balance in your life.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Act immediately

1. 

   Seek help from family and friends. If you feel that you can't do this on your own, seek help from a friend or family member to remind you or make you feel a responsibility to reduce or stop watching the news. Having someone to help you stick to your goals gives you a better chance to succeed, especially when the news obsession makes them uncomfortable or negatively impact the relationship. your.
   • Inform your friends and family of the signs that you have watched too much news such as becoming irritable, paranoid, not answering the phone, panic, and restless.
   • Make a habit of communicating with family and friends. Don't wait for them to ask how you feel. Instead say, "Hey, I want you to contact me so you know how I'm changing my news tracking habits." This may give them a hint to ask about.

2. 

   
   
   Schedule a specific time to watch news. Set a maximum time period for news to be viewed without being interrupted by other activities. Typically 30 minutes of news viewing can provide you with a variety of information, and watching longer than that is just repeated news.
   • Create a schedule of daily activities. Include reading, watching, listening to some news every day and no more. Setting limits and keeping track of your daily news viewing based on a schedule or plan will keep you accountable for your goals.
   • Similar rules apply to the internet. Give yourself the opportunity to end news addiction by limiting reading online news through setting reading time of day. If you see headers, don't click on their content unless it is within the specified time period.

3. 

   
   
   Create a fund for breaches of goals. If you watch more than the specified time, you must put money into the fund. This money will be given to a friend or a family member. Or, use it to donate to a nonprofit that helps addicts.
   • This principle is similar to using a "Cuss Jar" when trying to prevent a family member or yourself from swearing or swearing. Instead of profanity, the goal now is to watch the news. Put money into the fund every time you break it. You can also convince someone to agree to replenish your fund when you are not watching the news all day (target compliance). All of this money will be used for a good cause.

4. 

   
   
   Unsubscribe from the news on social media. If this channel is filled with news about the latest sensational events, you will find similar information from 50 different sources on a variety of electronic devices.
   • Get rid of news sources that are not in your favorites. Leave only 1 or 2 reliable sources.
   • Do not regularly check for updates unless you are central or involved in the issue and really need real help.

5. 

   Use online commitment devices. Some websites now have programs that warn visitors when they have reached a time limit. Alternatively, you can use a program that blocks websites that distract you from your goals.
   • It is most effective when you give yourself the freedom to access certain websites, and then determine for yourself what you want to block. So take the time to review the sites you visit frequently and pick the 3 most favorites.

6. 

   Pursue a new hobby or hobby. If you save time by reducing your viewing, you will have time to do many other useful things. If the problem occurs because you have too much free time, try something new. Research has shown that if you have a hobby, you are healthier and less likely to be depressed.
   • For example, taking a class at your local community college, tackling something on your "to-do" list for years, or actively trying to meet friends and / or members. family more often.

7. 

   Stop searching for news. It is possible to suddenly and completely stop the addiction of the news, it is an effective method for many people. Stop searching for information can be challenging as there is a constant stream of news on online, television and radio channels. Redirect your eyes and ears to other things and focus on work or another more productive activity.
   • One person can be addicted to many different things. Suddenly stopping the news is also an effective way to get back to your original state of life, but its success is limited. For example, while smoking and viewing the news are different, research has also shown that only 22% of all people who try to quit smoking can quit completely.
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Method 2 of 3: Determine your addiction

1. 

   Evaluate the level of the problem. Determining how news addiction affects you will help guide you on your journey of self-help and finding potential therapies. Ask yourself a series of questions and write down the answers. Then take some time to think about how your behavior is limiting your life. Reflecting on your own emotions and behaviors is a process that happens directly within you. Once you understand how and why you act like this, you can resolve many personal conflicts. Your discomfort will inspire you to change your behavior. Here are some questions to ask yourself about news addiction:
   • Have any of your relationships been negatively affected by your viewing behavior? Ask the people closest to you because you probably won't be able to fully understand how your actions affect others. This shows you that watching the news is not only harmful to you but also affects others.
   • Will the morning news determine your actions and feelings for the day? Will the end-of-day news determine your night's sleep? If you allow news to decide your day and affect your sleep, then news addiction is in control.
   • Do you rudely interrupt a conversation just to listen to a news item while you are shopping, eating, or being with someone else? Hurting someone else's feelings just to hear news that shows you give priority to the news over the people around you.
   • Do you believe that the 24-hour news radio is more important than any other TV channel? Would you give up other things in your life just to preserve this habit? This perspective is limiting your view of the world, and thus limiting your experience.
   • Feel deprived if you don't know what's going on in the world? Are you afraid of being abandoned? Recent studies show that if you have it, you will feel lost, disconnected from people, and unhappy with your life.
   • Are you the one fighting to be the first to hear the latest? Forcing yourself to be aware of all the latest top news can be burdensome for you and it can affect your behavior.

2. 

   Rate your mood after watching news programs. Your emotions are accurate proof that you let news addiction dominate your life. If you feel stress, anxiety and believe the world is out of control, you are too dependent on news. If you are feeling positive, optimistic, and suddenly become angry upon hearing news, this is a sign of addiction.
   • Does your often optimistic person turn into pessimism and sadness, someone who sees only danger, panic, fear, and a dire future ahead? Too much news will cause it.
   • Can't react appropriately to a stressful situation? Do you get angry with your family members or become agitated if someone dares to say that things are not as bad as you think?
   • Have you started to become more paranoid or annoying in public? Continuous exposure to a variety of news can leave even the coolest of people paranoid or concerned that something terrible is going to happen.

3. 

   Identify the underlying cause. Real change won't happen if you don't define the emotional basis of your behavior. Are you struggling with anxiety, stress or depression? Perhaps you are using news to distract yourself. Unfortunately, this can do more harm than good. Most news stories are filled with tragedy and crisis that leave you feeling powerless.
   • Manage anxiety, stress or depression in healthy ways including relaxation techniques, exercise or yoga.
   • When you relax, your muscles are loosened, your blood pressure and heart rate drop, and breathing is slow and deeper. Take time to relax instead of watching the news to avoid negative emotions. Alternatively, if you watch a sad story, you can use relaxation techniques to calm down.

4. 

   Make a plan to build coping skills. Adhere to a problem-solving model that will give you instructions for making change. You've identified addictive behaviors and now you have to define clear goals, implement them, make adjustments as needed, and track your progress.
   • Define clear goals. Your goal might be to set up a schedule and log the amount of time you spend watching news. Self-monitoring makes real change.
   • Pick a start date for your plan and get started. Don't procrastinate because it's inevitable. Get started as soon as possible.
   • Acknowledge your progress and reward yourself. If you successfully meet your daily, weekly or monthly goals, celebrate your achievement. Treat yourself to a movie, attend a sporting event, or plant a tree in honor of someone you admire. These positive actions will motivate you to continue with your plans.
   • If a strategy doesn't work for you, stop using it. Find another alternative and add it to your plan. Don't take it as a failure; instead, see it as an adjustment in the process towards your goal.
   • Your new behavior will build on over time and become your second personality. You can stop or reduce your adherence to the plan's steps and maintain positive results.

5. 

   Seek professional help. If you are having difficulty managing news addiction, seek advice from a specialist to treat it. Contact and tell your doctor or a trusted friend or family member about your condition.
   • Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the many effective treatments for addiction, depression, and anxiety disorders.
   • Group therapy is also effective when combined with a problem-solving approach. Group therapy can focus specifically on news addiction, or it can be designed to teach you some social and coping skills.
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Method 3 of 3: Restore balance to life

1. 

   Strengthen your support system. Relationships must be nurtured to survive. Social support is essential for your physical and psychological health. If you are addicted to news all the time, it often affects your relationships. Connect with others to build or heal relationships. Until you are 100% confident with the changes you have made, you will need the support of others.
   • Instead of following the news, engage in real social activities and online to expand your interests with news stories. For example, taking a music lesson, volunteering for an animal protection project, helping disadvantaged children. Life is more to experience than just watching news.
   • Hobby sharing brings people together. Find and join a group that interests you. It could be a comedy group, or the city's entertainment tournament that will give you the chance to meet new people.

2. 

   Become a good role model for others. If you meet someone you suspect is a news addict, avoid talking about the news. You should come up with a variety of topics to move the conversation in a more positive direction. You can always politely leave if the conversation becomes difficult and frustrating.
   • Don't be too arrogant or controlling others, share your experiences with them and offer to offer help. You can share all the strategies that have helped control your news addiction.
   • Teaching others what you have learned will give you a sense of success and inner rewards more valuable than what watching news has to offer.
   • Learning how to overcome and manage your news addiction will help you to boost your self-esteem.

3. 

   Maintain a life perspective. It is important to evaluate the information you hear correctly. Lots of news limit information to a dreadfully specific situation. If you are immersed in this information, it will distort your perception of the real world.
   • Pause and think carefully, and you will realize that the chances of a similar disaster happening again or even in any way are very small. The flu is a prime example of this kind of limited news. A certain number of infected people die, but in a country of 350 million people, 50 deaths from the flu are a small number. Don't assume it is a pandemic without more convincing evidence.
   • When you tend to believe things are getting worse, stop and ask yourself: Is the news true? And why do I think so? Are they trustworthy facts? Taking the time to question some of the scare news can help you break the cycle of being haunted by them.

4. 

   Make your news viewing options relaxing. Watch movies or TV shows that are not related to news or disasters. You can watch the show on home improvements, or biographies of historical figures. Add an element of humor to your life to balance watching negative news. It can help you feel better.
   • Ask yourself often if you've laughed a lot in the past week or month. If you can't remember the last time you laughed, find a way to get this precious remedy back. Calling a friend can make you laugh, or go to a comedy club to support comedians. Once you feel the benefits of laughter, make it a habit to laugh every day.

5. 

   Prepare to face the ups and downs. Life is full of difficulties and advantages for you. Life is mostly going on between these two points. You can value celebratory moments because you understand what hard feelings are. When you feel depressed, think that good things will eventually come. advertisement

Advice

• In a serious case, you can cut your cable TV and internet service entirely if other family members support your decision.
• If you are addicted to both online news and television, you will need to limit your resources to just newspaper.
• The addicted person is very easy to relapse. If you have a relapse, rearrange and try to stick with your plan. Every day is an opportunity to start over.
• Relax by attending a 12-step program (designed to help people treat addiction) or a meet-up for addicts. Although you may not be an alcoholic, this program will help you manage your addiction and provide you with the support you need.

Warning

• You must question the accuracy of the information you receive. There are a number of television stations and online media that report news that is not true. Be skeptical of what you read, watch and hear.
• Watching too much news will negatively affect your perception of the world. You must control information gathering closely.
• Severe isolation from real life can lead to depression and dangerous mental health problems. If you think you might harm yourself or others, call a family member, a trusted friend or the authorities for help.
• Studies have shown that spending too many hours watching news primarily related to traumatic events can provoke severe stress responses. Get help right away if you think you are being hurt by what you see on the news.