Give Your Brain (and Body) a Break

2 MINUTE READ
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As mentioned previously, as humans we’re constantly managing our brain’s tendency to perceive incoming stimuli as more threatening than warranted.

Because our brains haven’t evolved sufficiently from our early ancestor days of co-existing with apex predators and ongoing tribal warfare, they are currently ill-equipped to discern between experienced and witnessed threats. 

​This reality, combined with the advent of an endless stream of competing 24/7 news sources over the past 30 years, can have chronic negative impacts on our mental, emotional, and physical health. And because the consumption of news is so prevalent and accepted as a societal norm, we’re likely not really giving any of this much thought.

Here’s the thing, though: Every time your brain perceives something it sees or hears as a threat (this can be a perceived offensive social media post, any form of “news” or what passes for news, and even just a headline at a quick-glance), it automatically activates a threat response (typically fight or flight) and dumps a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, into your body.

Adrenaline increases your heart rate, your blood pressure, and energy levels. Cortisol releases sugars (glucose) into your blood stream. These natural defense mechanisms better equip us to either fight or flee, but we generally don’t need these physiological changes to respond to the stimuli. 

Over time, repeated threat response activation takes a toll on our body and leads to a host of issues related to chronic stress including obesity, chronic headaches, muscle strains/pain, panic disorders, depression, immune disorders…this is just a small sample of possibilities, but you get the idea.

With this in mind, I invite you to challenge yourself this week to be more aware of your news and social media scrolling/consumption. Try making a commitment to only check each for 5-10 minutes per day instead of regularly hopping on various sites for distraction or out of boredom. Be kind to yourself, however; our brains have been conditioned over the past 10-20 years to seek the newness/novelty of mindless scrolling. You're likely to feel uncomfortable and deprived while you detox from this ubiquitous habit.

To get started, think of 2-3 other things you can substitute for scrolling: Have a book nearby and read a page or two, stretch, meditate, make a quick journal update, go for a walk outside/get some sun…anything really to break the tendency to give our brains the novelty “fix” they crave from news sites and our social media feeds.

And, if it’s killing you to go cold turkey, commit to a week of getting your news from sites like AP and Reuters, which consistently rank the high in reliability and low in bias. These sites are much less likely to trigger a threat response while allowing you to stay up-to-date on what’s happening around the world.

Most important, however: Make it a point to check in with yourself and how you’re responding to incoming stimuli. Are you setting yourself and your life up for peace or conflict? For calm or tension? This extends beyond the screen to your family and friendships, how you interact on the road and on planes/public transport, and your customer service interactions online, on the phone, and in person.

Ultimately your wellbeing reflects who you are and how you show up in your life, so choose. Choose judiciously. Choose when to engage and when to side-step. And critically, choose what you allow into your day, into your awareness, and into your precious, always-protective brain.

Sources:
Towards Data Science | Who is the Least Biased News Source (Pryor, 2020)
Harvard Health Publishing | Understanding the Stress Response (2020)
American Psychological Association | Stress Effects on the Body (2018)
Mayo Clinic | Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk

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