Information Anxiety is a 21st Century Disease

Information anxiety is anxiety caused by access to too much information. It’s only in the 21st century that the levels of sharing information have risen to a point that can cause people to feel such anxiety. In the 2oth century we saw the advent of the radio, television, car, computer, and internet. All of these innovations provided the opportunity to experience more information, but with the advent of social media in the 21st century the tide of information has risen to a point where the anxiety it produces is a result of having too much information at hand.

Should we then stop using social media? No. But at the same time we need to recognize the necessity of learning skills that can help us effectively manage the stream of information being made available to us. Some of the different applications currently available already work to address that problem, but what also must be developed is the necessary mental disciplines and skills that allow us to regulate that information on a mental/biological level. Technology alone won’t allow us to fully deal with anxiety that arises out of too much information. So other approaches need to be developed as well.

An information fast, for example, can be useful. Choosing to turn off your social media for a couple days, to focus on other matters, or to simply allow yourself to process the information can give you time to slow down a bit and get focused.

Therapy is another option for information anxiety, in the sense that it may be useful to talk with someone who can help with the processing of all that information.

I personally use meditation. By meditating each day, I give myself a chance to process and consider all of the information I have accessed. It allows me to order it, to find patterns, and otherwise organize it.

Information Anxiety is a 21st Century Disease but it doesn’t have to overwhelm us. Instead we can develop ways to process, organize and understand that information, not just via technology, but also with the skills that all of us have access to.