Why does reading the news make me feel anxious?

You pick up your phone and come across a worrying news story. Perhaps it's about a conflict overseas, political uncertainty or something happening closer to home.

You read it, maybe watch a video, or scroll through the comments. Before long, another similar story appears. Then another.

It can start to feel as though the world is becoming increasingly uncertain, with worrying news everywhere you look. But there's something interesting happening here.

Many social media platforms and online services use algorithms to decide what content to show us. They learn from our behaviour, including what we click on, watch and spend time reading, and use that information to recommend more content they think will interest us.

The difficulty is that being interested in something doesn't necessarily mean we're enjoying it.

We might spend time reading a worrying story because it makes us anxious, because we're looking for reassurance or because we want to understand what's happening. Yet some recommendation systems may interpret that engagement as a reason to show us more of the same.

Another part of this process is how our brains decide what deserves our attention.

Why does negative news capture our attention?

Our brains are constantly processing information, deciding what's important and where to direct our attention.

One network involved in this process is the salience network. It helps us identify information that seems particularly relevant, including things that might affect our safety or wellbeing.

This is an important and useful function. We want to notice what genuinely requires our attention. However, when we're feeling anxious or uncertain, information about potential threats can become especially attention-grabbing.

Now consider what happens when that natural tendency meets an online environment that repeatedly presents us with similar worrying information.

The more we engage with certain stories, the more algorithms may recommend related content. And the more often we encounter those stories, the more opportunities our attention has to return to the same concerns.

This pattern can become self-reinforcing.

This doesn't mean social media algorithms directly control our brains or that our salience network is somehow malfunctioning. Instead, two processes can interact: technology designed to predict what will hold our attention, and a brain naturally inclined to notice what feels important.

When that information involves uncertainty or potential danger, it can be hard to shift our attention elsewhere.

The difficulty is that being interested in something doesn't necessarily mean we're enjoying it.

Why do we keep worrying after reading the news?

Another interesting area of neuroscience is the default mode network (DMN).

This network involves internally focused thinking, including reflecting on past experiences, thinking about ourselves, and imagining possible futures.

These are normal and useful mental processes. They help us make sense of experiences, plan ahead and consider different possibilities. 

However, when we're feeling anxious, thinking about the future can sometimes become less about constructive planning and more about worrying. What if things get worse? What might happen next? How will this affect me?

Before long, we're no longer simply responding to the news we've read. We're responding to the possible scenarios our minds have started creating around it.

This doesn't mean the default mode network is responsible for anxiety. But understanding how our minds generate thoughts about things that aren't happening in the present moment may explain why worry sometimes continues long after the original story.

When there isn't a clear answer or a practical way to resolve the situation, that ongoing thinking can become exhausting.

How does news anxiety affect the body?

Anxiety isn't just something we experience in our thoughts. It also involves our bodies.

When we perceive something as threatening, our autonomic nervous system helps us respond. The sympathetic branch supports our body's ability to mobilise when needed. Our heart rate may increase, our muscles may become tense, and we can feel more alert or restless.

The parasympathetic branch plays an important role in regulating bodily functions, including processes associated with rest and recovery. These systems aren't simply an on-and-off switch. They work together and adapt to what's happening around us.

The difficulty is that we don't need immediate physical danger to experience a stress response. Sometimes, thinking about what might happen is enough to leave us feeling unsettled.

We might be sitting comfortably at home, surrounded by people we love, yet our attention stays caught up in events hundreds or thousands of miles away.

If that uncertainty continues, it can become harder to relax, concentrate, or enjoy what's happening around us.

Why doomscrolling can make anxiety worse

When something feels uncertain, it's understandable to want more information.

Checking the news can offer temporary reassurance or a sense of preparedness. We feel as though we're doing something useful by keeping ourselves informed.

But many world events don't offer quick answers or neat resolutions.

We check for an update, find something else concerning, and perhaps feel the need to check again. Sometimes this becomes a pattern known as doomscrolling, where someone keeps reading distressing news even though they recognise it's affecting how they feel.

Research has found an association between doomscrolling and existential anxiety, although this doesn't necessarily mean one causes the other.

Often, the intention behind checking is quite understandable. We want to know what's happening, what it might mean and whether there's something we should be doing.

How can solution-focused hypnotherapy help?

Solution-focused hypnotherapy combines solution-focused therapeutic conversations with hypnosis, using relaxation, focused attention and positive therapeutic suggestions.

Rather than trying to remove uncertainty from the world, it focuses on helping people develop more manageable ways to respond to it.

An important part of this approach is recognising that people already have strengths, resources and experiences of coping, even when these feel less accessible during periods of increased anxiety.

For someone feeling overwhelmed by world events, we might explore what life would look like if those worries were taking up less mental space.

Perhaps they would sleep more comfortably, enjoy time with their family without constantly checking their phone, or hear a concerning headline without spending the rest of the evening thinking about it.

These might seem like small changes, but they can represent meaningful improvements in everyday wellbeing.

Solution-focused conversations encourage people to notice what's already working, recognise times when they're coping more effectively and consider manageable steps towards how they would prefer to feel and respond.

Hypnosis can complement this process by providing an opportunity for relaxation, focused attention, and mental rehearsal of preferred responses.

There is also some interesting neuroscience behind hypnosis.

Brain-imaging research has identified changes in activity and connectivity within networks involved in attention and internally focused thinking during hypnosis. A review of physiological studies also found evidence of relaxation-related changes, including reduced sympathetic responses and increased parasympathetic activity, although findings and methods varied.

It's important not to overstate what this means. These findings do not establish that solution-focused hypnotherapy directly changes particular brain networks or resets the nervous system.

However, research into hypnosis more broadly suggests it can be helpful for anxiety, particularly when combined with other psychological approaches.

The aim isn't to switch off difficult emotions or persuade someone that everything in the world is fine.

Instead, solution-focused hypnotherapy supports relaxation while helping people recognise their resources, consider what remains within their influence, and develop more helpful responses to everyday situations.

Sometimes the most helpful change isn't in what's happening around us, but in how much space we let it occupy within us.

How to stay informed without feeling overwhelmed

Managing news-related anxiety doesn't necessarily mean avoiding the news altogether. For some people, small changes in how they engage with information can make a difference.

This might mean choosing specific times to catch up on current events rather than checking throughout the day, using reliable news sources, or recognising when more information no longer helps them feel informed.

It can also mean reconnecting with activities that bring enjoyment, meaning or connection. Spending time outdoors, meeting friends, exercising, enjoying hobbies or simply being more present with the people around us can provide a welcome shift in attention. Sometimes we also have opportunities to take meaningful action, whether that's supporting a cause, helping someone, or getting involved in our local community.

The important distinction is recognising what genuinely requires our attention and what has become an ongoing habit of monitoring.

Because being informed doesn't mean we have to stay on alert all day.

Finding a different relationship with uncertainty

Uncertainty has always been part of life. What has changed is how much of it we can now access, often in real time.

We can know about a crisis on the other side of the world within seconds, follow developments throughout the day and read countless opinions about what might happen next. Our access to information has increased enormously, but our ability to influence many of those events hasn't necessarily changed.

Solution-focused hypnotherapy offers one approach to supporting emotional wellbeing when uncertainty feels overwhelming.

The aim isn't to eliminate concern or achieve complete certainty. It's to help people feel more able to manage their responses, recognise their existing resources and continue engaging with the parts of life that matter to them.

We can remain informed, compassionate and interested in what's happening around us without feeling responsible for resolving everything.

Sometimes the most helpful change isn't in what's happening around us, but in how much space we let it occupy within us.