We’ve never been more connected, but the ever-present onslaught of information can be difficult to deal with – here’s how to cope

Sometimes, it can feel like our entire day is made up of social media notifications, breaking news alerts, and streams of work and personal messages. If it’s not updates on conflicts around the world, it’s news of political unrest or troubling social issues – and that’s before we even get to the hurried texts and emails from our jobs, family, and friends. Especially in the aftermath of the draining Covid-19 pandemic, such an onslaught of information can leave our brains feeling scattered, making it a struggle to know where to turn our attention.

If you often find yourself feeling this way, you’re not alone. A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that 66% of adults felt worn out by the amount of news they were consuming. And it’s having a real impact on our mental wellbeing. Psychologist Ella McCrystal says: “This information is coming in faster than we can fully digest and understand it. This overload can make us vulnerable to lowered mood, information fatigue, and increasing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

“And the impact of attention fragmentation is that we become less productive, less creative, and less able to make good decisions.”

Disconnecting from technology entirely isn’t all that practical – so how do we combat the issue of information overload, while grappling with the need to stay up to date?

Turn off notifications and alerts

One easy change you can make to set boundaries with the outside world is to turn off all of your notifications, be it email, WhatsApp, or Instagram. “We need to give up the fictitious narrative that we need to be on top of everything,” Ella explains. The reality is that very few things need our attention so urgently – so denying these outside influences’ constant access to you is a helpful way to protect your wellbeing. If the thought of turning off all notifications makes you feel anxious though, schedule in five minutes every hour or two to check your necessary platforms.

Schedule in chunks of time to disconnect

“Giving our brains downtime to process new information input is a critical element of learning and thinking,” Ella explains. In order to do this, it’s helpful to disconnect at regular intervals during your day. Not only will this help you to process what you’ve read and seen, it’ll also help you to calm any feelings of anxiety it may have sparked.

Try meditation, or simply sitting quietly, looking out of a window for five to 10 minutes at points during your day. Therapist and author Marisa Peer says: “While these ‘mindless moments’ might feel like a time waster, it actually gives your mind the time to reboot.” If this doesn’t work for you, you could try getting outside for a 10-minute walk without any digital devices, or practising some relaxing yoga poses.

Do a brain dump

One of the main problems with information overload is that it can leave us unable to prioritise – how can we plan out our family’s weekly schedule when our mind is full of the worldȁ

A new five-year study claims that, with the right support, children could quickly resolve phobias

According to the NHS, an estimated 10 million people in the UK live with a phobia – making it the most common type of anxiety disorder. More than just a feeling of being scared of something, phobias can be all-consuming, occasionally preventing us from going about our days in a healthy and secure way.

Common phobias include spiders, snakes, heights, enclosed spaces, or the dentist – and while some may only react with mild anxiety in the face of their phobia, others may feel completely incapacitated. But now, in a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers from the University of York and the University of Sheffield have developed a new approach to treating phobias in children.

Working with 260 children across 27 mental health services in a five-year project, the researchers wanted to understand whether it would be possible to treat a phobia in a single three-hour long session – rather than multiple sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), as is the current standard.

The three most common phobias of the children were: fear of animals, vomit and blood, and injury and injections. The treatment sessions included exposure therapy. In the case of a child who had a fear of dogs, the therapist would first direct the child to watch a dog through a window. When the child became ‘bored’ of this, the therapist would coach the child to open the door and, then, gradually get closer to the dog.

“We found that this single three-hour session reduced a child’s phobias and in most cases resolved them, at the same success rate as multiple sessions did,” Professor Lina Gega, director of the Institute of Mental Health Research at York, says. “Our method was based on the premise that the opposite of fear is boredom, and children can become bored quite quickly of a repeated activity.”

As Professor Gega highlights, there are a number of issues with the current approach to treating children’s phobias with multiple therapy sessions. Namely, the child might experience anxiety each week ahead of the session. But also, these sessions intrude on the child’s life, are costly to the NHS, and do not account for limitations to accessing the sessions.

“We often find that with multiple sessions, the drop-out rate is high, so now that we know that just one three-hour session can be just as effective in children, it could open up new opportunities for clinical services to reduce waiting lists, resolve attendance barriers, and save money.”

Resolving a phobia faster has more benefits than might first meet the eye. The study pointed to the fact that severe phobias can often be related to other conditions such as ADHD and depression. It’s therefore possible that resolving the phobia more quickly may enable clinicians to identify other problems, and better support their patients.

“Fears are actually a very rational part of what it means to be human; fears can protect us from getting hurt,” Professor Gega says. “It is only when these fears start to prevent us from doing things in daily life that they can become a clinical issue.

“You can imagine, however, how liberating it is for a chil

Find some light in the dark with these positive news stories

Social enterprise cooks up tasty support for kinship families

According to the charity Family Rights Group, more than 180,000 children across the UK are being cared for by their kin – a grandparent, other relative, or family friend – due to their parents being unable to care for them. And while it’s an instinctive choice to make, it is a life-altering role that can come with many unique challenges.

Social worker Anna-Lou Manca has witnessed many kinship carers face financial and emotional difficulties over the course of her career, and it was for this reason that she founded Kinship Carers Hub in 2020 – a social enterprise on a mission to help kinship carers get the support they need to fulfil such a rewarding role.

The hub runs many projects – from employment opportunities to webinar training – which are all designed to provide guidance and support to kinship families, but their main project, Kinship Carers Cooking Club, is one combating social isolation through the power of food.

Each week, kinship families come together to cook and eat a meal, provided by the hub. Aside from the practical support provided through receiving groceries on a weekly basis, and learning about healthy, budget-friendly recipes, it also offers the opportunity to bond and access peer-to-peer support. One carer says: “It has allowed the children to see there are other children in the same situation as themselves, to show them that they aren’t alone.”

If you would like support as a kinship carer, visit kinshipcarershub.org

Workplace bullying survivor launches campaign for new UK law

The effects of workplace bullying can last a lifetime, chipping away at our confidence and undermining our self-esteem. But Skevi Constantinou, one woman who has been there herself, has come out the other side, and is ready to call for major change to protect others.

The former executive assistant was targeted at work over her chronic autoimmune condition, to the point where she eventually felt afraid to go into the workplace. And, sadly, she’s not alone. But despite Trades Union Congress (TUC) figures that found nearly a third of people have been bullied at work, with more than one in three people going on to leave their job because of it, workplace bullying is not currently recognised as a crime by UK law, leaving the door open for the perpetrators to get away with this behaviour.

“This affects millions of people, not just in the UK but globally,” Skevi says. “It’s so important that these people are represented and not made to feel that this is normal – to go to work and be treated that way. Bullies need to be stopped in the workplace.”

She points to Sweden as an example of a country that already has laws that specifically prohibit bullying in the workplace.

“We all deserve to go to work and be respected in a safe environment,” she says. “Whilst my own experiences have shaped me in

Mental health charities react to concerning news that the Government is pulling the plug on a much-needed plan

This week we found out that a 10-year cross-Government plan for mental health and wellbeing has been scrapped and replaced with a decision to combine the mental health plan with plans for chronic health conditions.

The original plan, championed by mental health charities, would have seen contributions from every Government department to create good mental health, going beyond just the health system. During the consultation process thousands of people with lived experience of mental illness were asked to be “ambitious” in their responses and to “think beyond the status quo” but now it appears the government are ignoring their own words.

Having a good idea of the things that are happening in the world is a savvy thing to do, so how can you manage that without becoming overwhelmed?

Between the cost of living crisis, the conflict in Ukraine, political divides in the UK, the US, and across Europe, and a wealth of other pressing issues, simply turning on the news can feel like a mammoth task at the moment.

At the same time, many of these issues simply cannot be ignored. If you don’t stay informed on rising inflation and issues in the economy, for example, you won’t know what costs are coming or what forms of support might be available.

As a journalist, I have to stay on top of the news cycle, but taking care of my mental health is also a top priority for me. As a result, I’ve developed some techniques for staying informed without being overwhelmed by negativity and alarming news.

1. Limit access

The first step is to limit your access to the news. Having push notifications for news apps might be convenient, but it means you could potentially be presented with stressful information at any given moment. Put yourself back in control of how you digest information by choosing when and how you stay up to date.

Identify which news sources aren’t working for you, and take steps to remove them. You can also try unfollowing news sites on social media, or even blocking certain keywords if you find yourself doomscrolling, or getting increasingly stressed while browsing Instagram or Twitter.

2. Find trusted sources

Now that you’ve cut out the media sources that don’t suit you, it’s time to identify which ones do work. It’s always a good idea to read from a number of different sources, rather than one publication, to get a full sense of the media landscape. To ensure that you’re reading a wide range of publications, the Ground News Chrome extension is an excellent bias checker, showing the political leaning of the site you’re reading, and recommending other coverage on similar topics for a more rounded perspective.

In addition, news aggregators like Upday, Google News, and Flipboard will all learn from what you tend to read and show you more of the same, as well as the top stories of the day. This is an excellent way to access a wide range of news efficiently.

3. Develop a mindful routine

As well as how you consume the news, when you browse can also play a large role in how it affects you. Looking at the news first thing in the morning, or the last thing at night, means your brain is likely tired and not ready to deal with stressful information.

The best time to get updated is when your brain works best, no matter when in the day that is for you. Take half an hour while having breakfast or on your commute, or perhaps dedicate some time while on your lunch break – whenever you’re relaxed and ready to learn.

About 30 minutes or so should be enough to take in the top stories and most important updates on an average day. From there, take on board what you’ve learned, and then separate it from the rest of your day. The reason many people feel overwhelmed by the news is that