The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out political news • Indiana Capital Chronicle

This conversation happened at the time I was speaking to a local TV channel about why we were seeing Fewer signs of the political arena During the election season this year compared to previous seasons.

I am a psychiatrist Who studies and treats fear and anxiety. One of my main mental health recommendations to my patients during the 2016 and 2020 election cycles was to reduce their consumption of political news. I also tried to convince them that the five hours a day they spent watching satellite news was only leaving them helpless and terrified.

However, I’ve noticed a change over the past couple of years: Many of my patients say they’ve either stopped working or are too exhausted to do more than a brief read of political news or watch an hour of their favorite political show.

Research supports my clinical experience: A Pew research study From 2020 showed that 66% of Americans are exhausted by political pressure. Interestingly, those who do not follow the news feel fatigued by the same news at a higher rate, up to 73%. In 20238 in 10 Americans described US politics with negative words such as “divisive,” “corrupt,” “chaotic,” and “polarized.”

Politics of fear

In my book for 2023, “Fear: Understanding the purpose of fear, and harnessing the power of anxiety“, I discuss how American politicians and major news media did it I found an ally in fear: A very powerful emotion that can be used to grab our attention, keep us at the tribal dividing lines and make us follow, click, click, watch, donate.

Over the past few decades, many people have felt a strong push toward tribalism, an “us versus them” way of seeing the world that pits Americans against each other. This has led to a point where we not only disagree with each other. We hateAnd cancel, ban and attack those who disagree with us.

Information bubbles

It may seem as if Fox News and MSNBC commentators are talking about the Americas from two different planets. The same applies when it comes to different social media feeds.

Many people are part of social media communities closed off from the world outside their homes and familiar social circles. Based on people’s political views and what they search, watch and read, Social media algorithms feed them content Where everyone talks and thinks alike. If you hear about the other party, it only means their worst qualities and behaviors.

The disconnect is so vast that people are not even able to understand what is happening Think about those from other perspectives They find their logic or political beliefs incomprehensible.

Many Americans have come to believe that the other half of Americans are, too. At best, unintelligent and stupid; At worst, immoral and evil.

Politics and identity

There was time In American politics where two politicians or neighbors can disagree, but still think the other person was fundamentally good.

Over time, more so Since the early 2000sThis ability to communicate has diminished despite political beliefs.

A majority of Democrats and Republicans in a 2022 Pew Research poll said someone’s political ideas are an indicator of their political leanings. Ethics and character.

The 2022 Pew poll also shows that partisan animosity extends to judgments of character: 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats said they believe members of the opposing party are more “unethical” than other Americans.

This is evident in everyday conversations between members of the two political tribes: “How can I be friends with someone who wants to kill children,” or “How can I talk to someone who agrees with women dying in a corner of the house.” clinic parking lot.” We can no longer see someone’s political affiliation in the context of their overall humanity.

What psychology and neuroscience say

He is afraid Because this deeply ingrained survival mechanism takes priority over other brain functions.

Fear directs your memories, feelings, attention, and thoughts, and can make you keep watching, scrolling, and reading to monitor this perceived threat. Positive or neutral news can become uninteresting because it is not important in your survival response. This has been the key to a person’s visceral reaction to fear-based political news.

But too much fear does not keep a person engaged forever. This is due to another survival mechanism – so-called “learned helplessness”.

In 1967, American psychologist Martin Seligman Shows two groups of dogs To painful shocks. The dogs in Group 1 could stop the shock by pressing a lever, which they quickly learned to do. But the dogs in the second group learned that they could not control when the shock started and stopped.

Next, both groups were placed in a box divided in half by a small barrier, and the shock was applied to only one side of the box. The dogs in Group 1—which had learned how to stop shocks in the previous experiment—quickly learned to jump over the barrier to the shock-free side. But the dogs in the second group didn’t even try to do that. They have learned that there is no point in trying.

This experiment has been repeated in various forms with other animals and humans with the same result: when people feel like they can’t control a painful or scary situation, they just give up. During such experiments, The fear area of ​​the brain – It’s called the amygdala – it’s overactive. Meanwhile, brain areas that regulate emotion such as the prefrontal cortex decrease in activity under these conditions.

Learned helplessness also means that brain mechanisms normally involved in regulating anxiety and depression don’t work as well.

When working with patients who have experienced long periods of intense anxiety, fear, trauma, and fatigue, I see learned helplessness manifest in the form of depression, loss of motivation, fatigue, and disengagement with the world around them.

The COVID-19 pandemic, more than a decade of intense political pressures, social media polarization and wars around the world, as well as… General disappointment I believe that American politics and media have led many people to suffer from burnout and learned helplessness.

If you’re feeling politically exhausted, you’re not the problem. Feel free to adjust out the noise.