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These respondents scored high on five problematic news consumption dimensions listed by the researchers: becoming absorbed in news content, being preoccupied with thoughts about the news, attempting to reduce anxiety by consuming more news, finding it difficult to avoid the news and having news consumption interfere in their daily life.
Of those with severely problematic consumption levels, 74% reported experiencing mental health problems and 61% reported physical problems compared to 8% and 6.1% of all other study participants.
Mannell studied the impact of news consumption on Victorians affected by strict Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020. She found partial news avoidance was beneficial for the wellbeing of surveyed participants, who reported being less distracted and calmer at home.
Mannell said for news addicts the key was acknowledging when it became detrimental to health, rather than encouraging people to switch off media entirely.
