Psych2Go

Why Your Country Is Making You Sick (And How to Heal)

Have you ever opened your phone for “just a minute” and somehow ended up feeling anxious, angry, emotionally drained, or completely overwhelmed by the state of the world? If so, you’re not alone. Constant exposure to bad news, online conflict, political stress, social media outrage, and other people’s pain can take a serious toll on your mental health. For some people, it can even lead to symptoms of vicarious trauma, collective distress, doomscrolling-related anxiety, emotional burnout, hypervigilance, sleep problems, or feeling stuck in fight-or-flight mode. In this Psych2Go video, we explore why world events, political conflict, social media negativity, and nonstop news exposure can feel so psychologically heavy, especially if you already struggle with anxiety, trauma, emotional overwhelm, or a dysregulated nervous system. We’ll also talk about the mental health effects of doomscrolling, the connection between media exposure and stress, and how to set healthier boundaries with distressing content without losing your empathy or compassion. If you’ve been feeling exhausted by the news, overwhelmed by online arguments, emotionally affected by global events, or mentally drained by everything happening around you lately, this video is for you. Further Readings: American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing. Bendau, A., Petzold, M. B., Pyrkosch, L., Maricic, L. M., Betzler, F., Rogoll, J., Große, J., Ströhle, A., & Plag, J. (2021). Associations between COVID-19 related media consumption and symptoms of anxiety, depression and COVID-19 related fear in the general population in Germany. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 271, 283–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-020-01171-6 Holman, E. A., Garfin, D. R., Lubens, P., & Silver, R. C. (2020). Media exposure to collective trauma, mental health, and functioning: Does it matter what you see? Clinical Psychological Science, 8(1), 111–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619858300 Relihan, D. P., Jones, N. M., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2023). Shared social identity and media transmission of trauma. Scientific Reports, 13, 11609. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33898-2 Smith, K. B., Hibbing, M. V., & Hibbing, J. R. (2019). Friends, relatives, sanity, and health: The costs of politics. PLOS ONE, 14(9), e0221870. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221870