Chaplains serve a variety of functions in hospitals, but some of my most interesting calls have come when medical staff observe sudden changes in a patient’s mood. A few years ago, I was called to visit a patient who had gotten inexplicably depressed. Every vital sign was improving, there was a great family support system in place, and the patient had no history of depression, so the patient’s sudden shift in mood was a mystery. Maybe fifteen minutes into my conversation with the patient, however, the cause suddenly emerged:

I’m just so worried about our country, chaplain! I had no idea things had gotten this bad!

Surprised and confused, I looked up and realized the TV in the room (though muted) had remained on throughout our visit. It turned out the patient, who normally didn’t watch TV at all, had been binging Fox News for three days straight, and the state of the world —as filtered through fear-mongering pundits— caused the patient significant enough distress to worry our medical team. We recommended turning off the TV for a few days or switching the channel to something more encouraging. Sure enough, after about 24 hours of The Hallmark Channel and The Price Is Right, the patient’s mood improved.

Initially, I thought this situation was a fluke, but then I started seeing it happen more and more. In fact, I see it regularly enough I’ve made it part of my standard spiel when meeting new patients: “Make sure you don’t watch too much news while you’re here with us. We want you to feel better, not stress you out.” If I see cable news playing in an empty waiting room, I’ll change the channel, and to make sure I’m not falling into the same trap myself, I’ve cut out news-related podcasts when driving to the hospital. I figure the current events will still be current on the drive back home.

The media we consume can have a major effect on our moods, and when pundits sensationalize every story to secure their ratings, viewers will naturally feel more anxious or depressed. I’m not saying a trip to the hospital should mean a total news blackout, but you can moderate your news intake and be selective about where you get your news.

News-related depression is a thing,
so take your media in moderation.
Be careful. Be healthy.