Here is a summation of a few:

1. Social media can make anxiety worse.

Sally Chan from U of Illinois investigated anxiety post zika and found that people’s perception of risk increased by reading a lot of social media.

Tip: Stick with reliable news, not your neighbor’s second cousin’s experience.

2. Limit exposure to all media. Even reliable media can be too much.

After the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, acute stress went up with exposure to media coverage. Even the next year, during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, people who had acute stress about the previous event, worried more about Ebola, even tho the risk was very low.

Tip: If you have been exposed to previous stress, you are at risk to suffer more now.

3. Trust your judgment about which are the good sources of information and which sources are suspect. Stick with trustworthy resources.

Written by  Dr. Linda Edelstein