No News Therapy
- Madhukar Dama
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Healing Your Mind by Saying No to Headlines
Prologue
You might think news keeps you smart. You might feel you must watch or read every update. But news today often brings more worry than help. This guide helps you see why stopping all news can bring peace. It shows how to quit news and what good things happen when you do.
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1. What Is News
1. News means telling people about things that happen.
2. Long ago, news helped you know about danger, weather, or important rules.
3. News was short, clear, and useful.
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2. What News Was Meant To Be
True facts only: News should share what really happened.
Help in danger: News should warn you about floods, storms, or fire.
Simple and rare: You needed news sometimes, not all the time.
Fair to all sides: News should let everyone speak.
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3. What News Has Become
Today, news often:
Runs all day on TV and websites.
Shows scary stories again and again.
Uses clicks to make money, not to help you.
Pushes fast headlines without facts.
Makes you feel worried or angry.
News now is more about getting views than telling the truth.
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4. Why News Is No Longer Useful
You do not act on most news you see.
You forget it quickly.
You feel stressed often.
You stay in reaction, not calm.
You cannot check most stories yourself.
News feeds your fear more than your needs.
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5. Why Stop News Everywhere
Every country’s news business is similar:
They use big words to scare you.
They show you bad news more than good.
They take your time and mind for ads.
They make you think you must know every update.
You do not need all this noise in your life.
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6. What To Do Instead
A. Read Books
Books slow you down.
You learn deeply, not just on the surface.
Try stories, history, or self-help.
Use old books or new ones. Both help you grow.
B. Trust Word of Mouth
Neighbors, friends, and family tell you what matters.
You hear about serious things like school closings or floods.
You do not need TV or apps for real news.
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7. How To Quit News
Phase 1: Notice Your Habit
Write how often you check news.
Notice how you feel after one minute on news.
Phase 2: Cut Down
Check news only once a week.
Turn off news alerts on phone.
Phase 3: Replace
Swap news time with reading to family.
Walk, cook, talk, or just sit quietly.
Phase 4: Stop
Try 21 days without news.
Write down what changes you find.
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8. Big List of Benefits
Mental and Heart
You feel calm and free.
You worry less.
You sleep better.
You think clearly.
You grow more creative.
Body
Your blood pressure goes down.
You have fewer headaches.
Your eyes feel rested.
You breathe deeply again.
At Home
You talk more with family.
Children feel safe and happy.
Parents share stories, not fights.
Meals become time for joy, not TV.
Life and Spirit
You find more silence.
You enjoy simple moments.
You feel grateful for small things.
You act, not just react.
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9. Change for Each Family Member
Mother: Feels less worry. She cooks with love, not fear.
Father: Stops debates on news. He listens and smiles more.
Children: Play without hearing bad headlines. They ask real questions.
Grandparents: Rest in peace. They tell old stories instead.
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Epilogue
Start small. Skip news for one day.
Sit with your family. Talk or read.
Feel the quiet in your mind.
Let news come through people, not screens.
Watch peace grow in your home.
You do not lose by quitting news.
You gain a life that feels more real and kind.
No News Is Good for You
A Poem by Nobody, For Everybody
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they told me
read the paper every morning.
watch the news at nine.
then again at ten.
then scroll it all day.
they said,
it’ll make you smart,
informed,
aware.
but all it made me was
tired.
angry.
numb.
full of the kind of fear that grows slowly,
like fungus in your brain.
---
I knew every riot in Delhi.
but forgot my daughter’s last drawing.
I could name five prime ministers.
but forgot to ask my mother how she slept.
I screamed at the screen
and stayed silent at dinner.
I knew how many died in Gaza
but didn’t know my son was scared of the dark.
I knew petrol prices.
but forgot how it smells when it rains.
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the news never ends.
it’s a leaking tap of panic.
“Breaking”
every hour
but nothing ever heals.
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I stopped.
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no farewell letter,
no farewell tweet,
no big drama.
just turned off the news
and turned toward my home.
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and then—
silence entered,
like an old friend who had been waiting outside
in the rain,
politely.
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that night, we sat without phones.
my daughter told me a story
about a frog who flew.
my wife asked if I wanted more sambhar.
I said yes.
no headlines.
just home lines.
thread by thread,
we stitched back a life.
---
turns out, the news never needed me.
but my people did.
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and my blood pressure?
it dropped.
my jaw unclenched.
my back loosened.
I started sleeping like a tree.
still. deep.
rooted.
---
the world still spins,
but now I spin less.
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I don’t miss knowing.
I enjoy not knowing.
I enjoy discovering slowly.
like in old times—
when you’d find out someone died
only when their photo came in the post
with a black border.
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when I need to know, I know.
Ajja tells me the rains will delay.
the grocer tells me school will be closed.
my uncle says don’t go to town this week.
this is enough.
this is news with a heart.
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I started reading books again.
not just browsing.
reading.
a page,
a pause,
a thought.
not a swipe,
not a scream,
not a lie.
---
now, my son reads with me.
he says,
“Appa, the world feels slow here.”
I say,
“Good.”
---
you stop the news,
you stop the nonsense.
you stop the constant war in your chest.
you remember things.
like your father's laugh.
your wife's hands.
your mother’s stories.
your own breath.
---
you stop being a container
for things that never belonged to you.
celebrities.
explosions.
stocks.
shocks.
stats.
shouts.
---
I don’t know who won the election.
but I know my child has stopped wetting the bed.
I don’t know what a CEO said in Davos.
but I know my ajji hums when she’s happy again.
I don’t know what broke the market.
but I know how to fix my torn lungi.
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what did I lose?
nothing.
what did I gain?
everything.
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I watch the sun now.
it never has breaking news.
it just rises.
like truth.
like children.
like hope that doesn’t scream.
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and the cows still walk.
the rice still boils.
the sky still knows how to weep and shine.
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we didn’t need news.
we needed to notice.
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news is not a right.
peace is.
presence is.
family is.
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let the TV rot.
let the anchors bark.
let the alerts die.
you,
come back
to the life
you almost missed.
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you are not uninformed.
you are free.
you are finally free.
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