All my adult life I have been a news junkie. That ended November 2016 after the election
of the criminal we now have in the White House. I tuned my clock radio from the NPR station it had been on for 30 years to a music station. I did the same in my cars , but not my bride’s Outback. For many weeks, probably going well into 2017, I did not look at the news in all the various forms that it comes at you. Of course, this is not entirely possible to do, but I did do my utmost to avoid the news. The election of 2016 truly depressed me in any number of ways. This was my effort to protect my mental health. Truth is at times I feel like I am living in the middle of a dystopian sci-fi novel with the current state of the world.
I have since gone back to the news a bit, but I will take sabbaticals from it for several weeks at a time if it gets really bad. I still have not re-tuned my radios. Right now, I am currently on one of those sabbaticals to some extent.
I know I am not alone in this as I have talked with other folks that have the same issue, just not to my degree. I had one bloke tell me that I just needed to go through life with blinders on and I would be happier. Maybe, but that is not me.
I was wondering what to call my condition. TNSD, Traumatic News Stress Disorder, did not seem respectful to those folks suffering with PTSD. Then I encountered this article. I now have a name for my maladay, HSD, Headline Stress Disorder. Seems it is common enough for folks to study and write about it. Here is the link: