Psychotherapist Alexander Fyodorovich believes that people's attraction to disturbing news is linked to an instinctive attempt to protect themselves.
He asks: Has anyone ever noticed that he cannot look away from a report about a disaster or a major event? Or that he reads news about an explosion or a murder with much greater interest than an ordinary news item?
According to him, psychotherapists believe that this attachment to scary news does not indicate decadence, but is an ancient survival mechanism, although it may work against humans in the modern age.
In general, positive news does not elicit the same level of interest or response from the human brain.
He says: "Good news does not cause stress and does not require an immediate brain response, so it is not a priority. Scary news, on the other hand, has a different effect, because it activates the oldest parts of the brain responsible for the survival instinct."
He adds that the brain then receives a signal: "Danger! Pay attention immediately!", so the person stops browsing or stares at the screen, even though he realizes there is no immediate threat.
He continues: “Anxiety, fear, and the feeling that this could happen to anyone at any moment arise, and this is the main point. Scary news does not make us indifferent because it shakes our basic sense of security. If an explosion occurs in a neighboring city, it means that it could happen to me too, and if a crime occurs in the street, it means that I am not safe from danger. Then the brain begins to gather information intensively: How did it happen? Why? Who is responsible? And how can it be avoided? In an attempt to regain a sense of control. But the paradox is that increased consumption of scary news leads to a decrease in the sense of control, and therefore the anxiety does not disappear but rather increases.”
According to him, understanding the mechanism of anxiety is half the solution, as a person can learn to control their mental response and reduce the impact of feeling threatened in moments of weakness.
