Your Brain Wasn’t Built for Breaking News Every 12 Minutes. Protect Yourself from News Burnout

Most of us can’t remember the last time we made it through a morning without a news alert lighting up our phone. Politics, markets, weather, conflict — all delivered in real time, all demanding attention, all insisting they’re urgent. Even if you don’t go looking for updates, they find you anyway. The world continues to spin, and the news cycle spins even faster.

But here’s the truth we don’t acknowledge enough: our brains were never designed to process this much information, at this pace, with this level of emotional intensity. The result is a kind of quiet, constant stress that settles into the nervous system. It's news burnout. I see it in my therapy office every week. People come in feeling “off." They're not exactly anxious, not exactly overwhelmed, but always on edge. Often, the culprit is not their job, relationship or health. It’s the steady drip of the news cycle creating a stress loop they don’t even notice forming.

As a psychotherapist serving Colorado, my work centers on helping people understand what’s happening inside themselves so they can meet life with more clarity and compassion. And lately, many people are realizing that staying “informed” has turned into staying activated. They’re tired, wired and unsure why their shoulders live somewhere near their ears.

You're not in constant danger. But news burnout can feel that way.

The constant news cycle does something sneaky: it convinces us we’re in danger, even when we’re sitting safely at home. Every alert triggers the brain’s threat-detection system — the amygdala — which doesn’t distinguish between a breaking headline and a real, present danger. To the nervous system, it all feels the same. Add social media to the mix, where commentary, opinions and outrage are layered on top like emotional accelerant, and you’ve got a body that never gets to stand down.

People describe symptoms that seem unrelated: difficulty sleeping, irritability, tension headaches or loss of focus. But when they trace back the moment anxiety spikes, they often find a cause they didn’t expect. Perhaps it was a news update that slipped in between meetings, a headline seen mid-scroll or a crisis they can’t control but feel responsible for anyway.

And that’s the other weight we carry: guilt. Many people worry that if they step back from the nonstop churn of information, they’ll be uninformed or irresponsible. But boundaries aren’t denial. They’re self-preservation.

Techniquies to quiet the mind

This is why I talk so much with clients about creating a healthier relationship with the world’s information flow. It's not necessary in most cases to tune out, but it's just giving the nervous system a chance to function the way it was intended. Here are a few strategies I recommend:

Name the feeling before you name the headline.

• Before you dive into what the news says, check in with what your body does. Is your chest tight? Stomach tense? Shoulders clenched? Your physical response is often the giveaway that something has activated your system, even if the story itself isn’t directly about you.

• Set “news windows,” not open tabs.
Ten minutes twice a day is more grounding than a hundred micro-glances. It creates structure, and structure helps the nervous system relax between updates.

• Use your senses to reset.
Touch a textured object, focus on something still, breathe intentionally. These quick grounding practices signal safety to the body, which is something the news rarely offers.

• Ask yourself: Is this actionable or just overwhelming?
A lot of information leaves us stressed but powerless. If a piece of news doesn’t help you make a decision or take an action, you may not need it right now.

• Return to your world, not the world.
Real connection happens in conversations, meals, movement, creativity. What’s happening in your home, your neighborhood, your relationships will always matter more than what’s happening in a thousand feeds.

When people begin to implement these habits, something important happens: their baseline returns. Their nervous system stops bracing for impact. They feel more present, less reactive and more able to show up in their lives with energy rather than exhaustion.

The news cycle isn’t going to slow down. But you can. And doing so doesn’t make you uninformed — it makes you intentional. You get to decide what deserves your attention and what can wait. You get to protect your peace without apologizing for it.

As you explore what a calmer, more grounded relationship with information looks like, remember this: you don’t have to carry the entire world in your nervous system. It’s enough to simply stay present in your own.

If you find yourself struggling to set boundaries or feeling overwhelmed by the constant noise, support is available. I’m here when you’re ready.

In Healing...

Carol

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