My therapist's first question to me was if I watched TV news. I said no. Not even online. I read online feeds for about ten minutes to catch the gist and move on....

He said his first recommendation to anyone with any anxiety disorder is STOP WATCHING NEWS.

Gotta say, I quit on my own in summer 2012 b/c the pre-election crap had me wanting to tear out my hair.... so I just don't watch it. I read local, world and national and then done... By reading I can stop when it starts to bug me, and there's none of that hyper-ventilating emotional mega-graphics etc....

Here's a prescription---breathe deep, watch comedy clips on YouTube, and have a big furry purr of comfort from me. It's just awful they never mention the good stuff....

I quit reading the news for a few years, from like...2010 up until recently.
Back then, I read that a building with a bunch of kids sheltering in it got blown up in a war somewhere; Libya, I believe.
I cried my eyes out. There was all this horrible stuff happening and children being blown up and not a (bleep)ing thing I could do to stop the horror. I felt so sad and helpless.
So for my own...well, not *sanity*, since I ain't got any of that, but my own protection, I quit following any news for a while. I needed to do that. It's ok to withdraw for your own protection, the world will be as it is without you paying attention.

I read the local news (online....no regular TV or cable, just Netflix) and the Huff post but I am selective what I read. I have been brought to tears more easily by the cruelty to animals stories than the human stories.

I had stopped watching all news. Then when the 3 mile island type meltdown happened in Japan, I started watching again. Normally when I watched, it was only the local news. Then I was in the air, going to my honeymoon, on 9/11. We were supposed to go thru JFK (New York) on AA, landing at 9:05am, then I REALLY stopped watching the news. Also, I was working 8pm-4am, and had to start getting ready at 6pm. I was literally solely watching the Game Show Network. All old game shows. Then, when I had to stop working, I was watching VH1Classic all the time. It's like MTV was like back in the day. Any footage/videos from the 50's til the early 90's. Now, with my DVR and no work, I can watch everything (except NO commercials). So, I tape everything and watch it whenever I want. I started taping the news bc, being out of work, and abandoned by all friends and family, I had NO clue what was going on in the world, or in town. My dad was a commercial fisherman, so all my life he (we) had to watch the weather and be silent, and I love the beach. So I would watch the weather, at least in the summer, or if a good blizzard or hurricane was coming.

So, I guess I'm gonna just watch the local, mainly for the weather. I will miss Brian Williams, though.

Can I still watch Dr Drew? He makes me laugh.

" I will miss Brian Williams, though. "
I understand.
...I miss Rachel Maddow...but even listening to smart and well-researched punditry gets my bowels in an uproar and I had to stop.

Since I no longer own a TV, I also miss Jim Cantore, the really cute weather channel guy:
http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/user-2855/cantore.jpg

(He doesn't shave his head...he just goes out in hurricanes and the wind takes it off.)

Well, I have DirecTV, and they recently stopped showing the weather channel, so I miss Jim Cantore, too. The only time I ever got to see him was when he was on with Brian Williams.

Oh, the irony!