This simple breathing exercise helps you to face the anxiety of the news, explains Dr. Gupta
It only takes a few seconds, he said.
If looking at the news makes you anxious, you are not alone. According to a study in the newspaper Health communication , the obsessive desire to follow this news can lead to stress, anxiety and worsening physical health. The researchers found that 16.5% of the 1,100 people interviewed in an online survey showed signs of "seriously problematic" news consumption, which led them to focus less on school, work and Family and contributed to an inability to sleep, while more than 73% said they have said they experienced experienced mental health problems "a little" or "many" and 61% said their physical health had physical health suffered. Fortunately, there are things you can do to warn the anxiety linked to the news, explains the chief medical correspondent of CNN and host of the Podcast Chasing Life, Sanjay Gupta, MD. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
How the news has an impact on your brain
This week, Dr. Gupta weighed on how the War of Israel-Hamas has an impact on mental health, not only in terms of people on the ground, but of anyone who looks at him. "Even from afar, if you testify as we have all been, you have constantly testified, like me, it can have an impact on your brain," he said.
In order to illustrate his point, he used a brain model showing two areas of the brain: the amygdal, "which is the emotional center of the brain, and that will activate whatever happens by seeing some of these images" , he says. "And what is happening following the amygdal is that you get around the frontal lobes, the judgment. You are essentially a kind of reactionary emotional person at that time," he continued. "You don't make rational decisions. Everything is emotional. It is not a surprise. I think the surprising part is that it can happen anywhere."
He recently obtained Gail Saltz from New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill-Cornell Medical College, on his podcast, which gave him suggestions on what to do on this subject.
How you can defend yourself
The first one? Remove social media applications. "I agree with the American Psychological Association and other organizations that came out to say:" Hey, remove these social media applications from your children for a while "", he says. "But I would also say for adults, it may be the time to remove them by yourself." He added that he did not recommend "crawling under a rock and has no idea what's going on", but rather advocates "not to scroll through social media where there is no warning of Trigger. There is no warning. It is just a constant diet of really overwhelming images, "he said.
He also argues that Saltz suggests prioritizing personal health care. "When you brush your teeth, take care of your skin. How do you take care of your mental health? How do you even know?" he says.
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Try deep breathing in rhythm
"The deep breathing of rhythm is something that anything can do, and I don't want to minimize things, but it has such an impact. Five seconds by the nose, then seven seconds, two additional seconds by the mouth, These two additional seconds, this is when your heart rate decreases. This is when your stress decreases. This is when your cortisol levels lower. Do it ten times. ""
He does it himself, and "I always do it when I am in war areas," he said. "Whoever looks at these images can do it. Do it with your children." If you don't know how to do it, he suggests downloading a respiratory application.
