5 Tips to cope with news anxiety

News anxiety comes up often in my sessions with highly sensitive clients. And it’s no surprise. When you feel the world in high-definition - when empathy isn’t just a nice word but your daily reality - it can be overwhelming to take in the constant stream of wars, corruption, disasters, injustice, and human suffering. Our empathy doesn’t have an off switch, and for us, the emotional impact can be profound and hard to shake.

What others might call “just staying informed” can, for a sensitive nervous system, feel like emotional whiplash. The weight of the world doesn’t just pass through us - it lingers.

Personally, I’ve never watched the news. Even as a child, I felt it wasn't for me. Every time I was exposed to it in someone else's home or the television was blaring in the background, I felt physically ill. So as an adult, I made a clear choice: no TV, no news broadcasts. I’ll glance at a few headlines now and then, but I rarely dive deeper. My system simply can’t hold that much grief without consequence.

Still, just reading those headlines is often enough to stir something in me. And no… just because the pain isn’t mine directly, doesn’t mean I can switch off and stop caring. Sometimes the bad news hits close to home, and sometimes it hits all of us.

Now, I’m noticing that news anxiety is rising in so many of the sensitive people I work with. So I wanted to open this conversation and share some grounded strategies for navigating this kind of overwhelm and anxiety, and share with you 5 tips to cope with news anxiety.

5 TIPS TO COPE WITH NEWS ANXIETY

1. Set boundaries around media consumption

There’s no universal rulebook for how to protect your nervous system from the flood of information out there. But if you’re highly sensitive, having some boundaries around media is not just helpful - it’s essential.

Here are a few ways to start:

- Turn off notifications on your phone (and any other device that tries to steal your peace).

- Delete apps that keep pushing distressing updates and unfollow accounts that consistently leave you feeling heavy.

- Choose a specific time of day to check the news, and give yourself a time limit.

- And when things feel too intense, consider taking a longer media break altogether.

If you're curious how other HSP manage, as an example, this is what I do.

I don’t get push notifications of any kind - not for news, messages, or social media. I use social platforms only to post my content, and I rarely stay more than 15 minutes at a time.

These days, I glance at a few trusted news sources over lunch, and then I’m done for the day. No checking, no scrolling, no falling down rabbit holes. I also take regular media fasts, especially on weekends. It’s a relief to give myself permission to be in a news fast - even for just two days.

2. Choose constructive ways to stay informed

We follow the news to stay informed, not to be shocked, devastated, or emotionally wrecked. It sounds obvious, but when you're highly sensitive, it’s easy to forget that not every headline deserves your attention or your nervous system.

It helps to ask yourself two simple questions:

1. What topics do I actually need or want to be informed about?

2. What’s the least distressing way for me to stay informed about those things?

Let’s start with the first. Being selective with your attention doesn't mean you don’t care. It means you're human. One person, one brain, limited capacity. You can’t hold the weight of the entire world - and you’re not supposed to. So be honest: What genuinely affects you, your family, your work, your values? What information do you need in order to function, prepare, or make good decisions?

Once you have clarity on what matters most, the next step is to choose how you consume that information in a way that doesn’t leave you drained.

A few gentler options to cope with news anxiety:

- Subscribe to daily or weekly roundups from sources that are clear, reputable, and not feeding on outrage.

- Follow specific organizations that work on causes you care about - often, they’ll give you what you need to know without the noise.

- Read books or longform articles for deeper context, instead of skimming ten panic-inducing headlines.

- Ask a less sensitive friend or family member to tell you if something big happens you need to know about.

Personally, when I take breaks from the news (which I do often), I simply let people around me know. But truthfully, I don’t even have to ask - if something major is unfolding, someone will let me know. Most of the time, I end up getting the news from a neighbour, a friend, or someone close who’s more plugged in than I am. That’s usually enough.

3. Focus on what you can control

We’re living in an age of constant information. Compared to just a few generations ago - when news traveled slowly and people’s lives were mostly shaped by what happened locally, we’re now bombarded with real-time images and stories from all over the globe. Our poor brains haven’t had time to evolve for this kind of exposure.

This is what I call media saturation overload. We’re not just holding the stress of what’s happening in our own village, we’re holding anxiety over war, climate collapse, injustice, and global instability. It’s too much. Sometimes it really does feel like the world is spiraling toward disaster, and we’re left clutching our phones, trying to breathe through it.

And if you’re highly sensitive, the impact runs even deeper. You feel the suffering. Your natural instinct is to help but the problems are too big, too many, and truthfully… you’re already stretched thin just trying to care for yourself.

That’s why it’s so important to shift your focus to what you can actually influence.

You are one person. You’re not responsible for fixing the whole world. Your first responsibility is to yourself. Your second, to any children or animals you’re caring for. If you don’t have capacity for more than that right now, that’s not selfish. That’s truth. You’re already doing enough.

But if you do have a little space, a little energy, ask yourself: What feels most important to me right now?Is there one cause that really matters? Could you support an organization doing good work in that area?Maybe a small monthly donation or even a few hours of volunteering?

As for me, in this season, most of my energy goes into tending to myself, my family, my local community, and supporting as many highly sensitive people as I can.

4. Prioritize Self-Care

Uncertainty is part of life. So is stress. No amount of worrying or planning will make them disappear completely. What we can influence, though, is the state we’re in when those stressors show up. We can meet them already running on empty or we can meet them with a fuller tank, by prioritizing the kind of care that helps us stay steady.

This is true for everyone, but it’s especially vital if you’re highly sensitive. Our nervous systems process more, feel more, and get depleted faster. Which means we need to be even more intentional about filling our own resilience buckets, before they run dry.

Self-care, in this context, isn’t about indulgence. It’s about maintenance. It’s about staying resourced enough to show up for life without burning out. 

That means tending to the basics: 

• Physical care: rest, movement, nourishment. 

• Mental care: learning to notice and manage your thoughts, especially when they spiral into fear.

• And emotional care: creating space to feel, regulate, and move through intense emotions without getting trapped in them.

This kind of care isn’t optional. It’s the foundation that allows us to stay present, grounded, and available to ourselves and to the world.

5. Find peace in today

Sometimes the news reflects what we’re all living through, like a global pandemic or a crisis that directly affects us. But often, it’s about events unfolding far away or things that might happen in the future. And collapsing under the weight of someone else’s pain or the fear of what could be, doesn’t actually help anyone.

What does help is taking care of yourself. Staying grounded. Nurturing your spirit so that you have the strength to show up where it truly matters in your life, in your relationships, and in your corner of the world.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds. So why not allow yourself to soften into today? To notice beauty. To laugh. To let joy exist alongside your compassion. Choosing to experience moments of peace or delight doesn’t mean you’ve turned your back on the suffering in the world. It means you’re adding something the world desperately needs more of.

Peace is not denial. Joy is medicine.

You want to share your story, your struggles and the battles you won, and be part of our circle of sensitive and intuitive people. Come with us and let's chat with other highly sensitive people!

Join the Highly Sensitive Empaths community:

Sign up for our newsletters to receive information and stories for highly sensitive people.

Join us on: Instagram and Facebook (private group)