Overdosing on News Can Be Bad for One's Mental Health, Scholar Says

AScribe Newswire ^ | Thursday, November 01, 2001

[Dog Gone]

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov 01, 2001 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- In these uncertain times, what do authorities on uncertainty management advise?

Although it sounds counterintuitive, some suggest that people should back off now and then from information seeking. In some cases, too much information can be hazardous to one's mental health. So says Dale Brashers, an authority on the burgeoning field of uncertainty management and a professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois. Much of his work over the last several years has focused on patients' uncertainty concerning HIV and AIDS.

Because of the current uncertainty about the dangers of bioterrorism and other terrorist acts, people want more information, Brashers said, acknowledging that it is "perfectly natural" to think that gathering information will help reduce uncertainty.

"But this is a case in which information may simply cause greater anxiety, particularly if the information forecasts negative consequences or if it is contradictory or unclear."

Which is why he believes that "Sometimes people need to back away from the onslaught of information." Doing so can be difficult, "especially when we want to be vigilant about possible risks," he said. "It can also be difficult because of the constant media attention and what is labeled 'accidental exposure' to information."

Even in better times, uncertainty management involves a kind of mental balancing act - "a balance between a desire for information and a need to avoid extreme or pathological anxiety."

This moment in time, when cases of inhalation anthrax - and deaths caused by it - are being verified, not only is taxing citizens, it also is taxing the experts: the Postmaster General, the Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control, Brashers said.

"This is an area in which the science seems to change from minute to minute," he said. "So in addition to uncertainty about the possibility of bioterrorist attacks, we now also have questions - and uncertainty - about expert advice. And this can call into question a core value: our trust in scientific knowledge for everyday concerns - food and product safety, health and illness information and so on."

Thus, although we have to be vigilant for acts of terrorism because we now know the threats are real, "we also have to be careful to avoid obsessive information seeking, such as overly frequent monitoring of newscasts and obsessive thinking or 'ruminating' about the threat."

"People should listen to trusted sources, realize that media sources may be inaccurate because they are trying to disseminate information rapidly and - from time to time - verify information through health agencies."

Brashers wrote "Communication and Uncertainty Management," which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Communication, a special issue on uncertainty, evaluation and communication.

[ChemistCat]

Before I gave up on completing my courses this semester, I had a deal where my mom would call me if something new happened so I could turn off all the media and study. Now I do doctor appointments and I FReep and I watch my kids play. I have no idea which is causing more of my current anxiety level....

[Constitution Day]

"I don't listen to him either."

Really? My wife just told me to come to bed. I ignored her.

[MadEagle]

I am not mental, and I can quit Freeping anytime I want.

[stlrocket]

And this is the result of TOO much News - Even Martha Stewart goes over the edge: LInk to StrangeCosmos Scary

[Pete-R-Bilt]

" Although it sounds counterintuitive, some suggest that people should back off now and then from information seeking. "

Have you seen the cheese and moose strings here lately, you can’t back off
much more than that!

[Revolting cat!]

Bunk! I'm perfectly normal. Doctor Nick Riviera told me so himself six times this past Tuesday. Wrote it on a prescription too.

[Constitution Day]

"Me too. Let's let John Huang do the calling. He's up all night!"

My FRiend, JH2 *never* sleeps. He takes catnaps sitting upright in his desk chair. Lots o' caffeine, as well.

I have that information from a reliable source.

[mercy]

We have to go to the PO to pick up our mail. We get stuff from the E. coast. My wife wears a mask and dons gloves to sort the mail. The postal workers are scared and very unhappy. Meanwhile several more flight school students arrived at DFW today.

[Dog Gone]

What's really interesting is that we experienced the same thing at the start of WWII. We used to look back on the Japanese internment camps as a forgiveable but very wrong action that the country took.

Americans, especially on the West Coast, were seeing Japs everywhere. Anti-aircraft balloons (which were basically completely useless) flew over Los Angeles.

People were freaked out.

Probably the vast majority of us here were not old enough to remember any of those things first-hand, but we're acting, in large part, no differently than the folks did 60 years ago.

We managed to get through it okay back then, and I imagine we'll do the same today. It just takes some getting used to.

[hocndoc]

We're doomed!Doomed, I tell you!!

Unless, of course, you do just as I say. Here's a book you can buy. And it might help if you subscribe to my newsletter.

/sarcasm

bah, humbug.

[hocndoc]

Oh, and,

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!

[walden]

For me, reading the news is a neutral factor, but reading books is definitely helpful. Try "The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs" by David Pryce-Jones. It's out of print so you'll probably have to get it through inter-library loan, but it's definitely worth the effort. You may be more depressed when you finish it than when you start, but you'll understand so much more, so it's worth it. :)

[WVNan]

You will probably find that there are more of us WWII citizens here than you think. Yes, we were told what we could and could not do. We were allowed only certain amounts of staples (sugar, marjorine, shoes, tires,etc). We had little ration coupons that we turned in when we bought things, and when those ran out.....tough. We had to turn our lights off or cover our windows at night. We gave up our moms and dads to the war effort. My Mom worked at Redstone packing shells and was injured in an explosion there. She is 90 yrs old now. We look back on that time with memories of young men in our families marching off to ship out overseas, and we cried bitter tears, knowing that they might not come back. Many didn't, but they fought like the tough pioneer stock that they were and they made us proud to be Americans. It was a world war and Japan was the enemy. It made sense to inter those who might betray our country. I think at the time most of them understood why it was being done. It was no fun, but necessary. Of course that was long before PC set in.

[ChemistCat]

I think "the Japanese" were a group a little easier to define. Who exactly are the enemy here? Arab Christian noncitizens? Arab Muslim Citizens? Does it matter if they're from Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Turkey? What if they are women who fled rather than allow themselves or their daughters to suffer FGM? Sometimes I'm cynical enough to think that the only reason we're not rounding anybody up now is because of this confusion. What's a "Sikh" and are they our enemy? (They're not Muslim, but who can tell by just looking at them?) Who really knows? I wish there was a little more clarity on this. Some people like Louis Farrakhan are clearly identifying themselves as our enemies with their own mouths. And HE'S a flippin' CITIZEN too--by definition if not by substance. I feel very anxious for GWB that he find some way to draw the line. It ain't gonna be pretty any way he draws it. If he doesn't draw it, we'll never be free of this menace.

Spouse says someone at OU was harassing a KOREAN girl...couldn't tell the difference between an Asian and a Middle Easterner.

[glock rocks]

from the article: Thus, although we have to be vigilant for acts of terrorism because we now know the threats are real, "we also have to be careful to avoid obsessive information seeking, such as overly frequent monitoring of newscasts and obsessive thinking or 'ruminating' about the threat."

this is free republic, the preeminent news source on the web.

we are all news junkies. we frequently monitor newscasts. we are
obsessed. we are vigilant. some of us are ruminants.