Insanity

I get it - watching the news helps you stay informed.  But there are many studies showing that watching too much news is bad for you - particularly for your mental health.  The news consists almost exclusively of negative stories, too much of which can cause worry, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, paranoia.  And watching multiple news programs a day (lunch, tea, night) - often containing the EXACT same stories and features - on top of reading one or two newspapers every day, listening to countless coverage of news on the radio, plus taking in however much internet news content you want - is insane.  So much negativity, so much repetitiveness, so much wasted time.  But what do they say about insanity?  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Is it insane to consume so much of the same negative news every day?  Or is it insane to think that anything I say or do will ever make a jot of difference, if they've been consuming news this way for so many years?  Habits are difficult to break - especially when they are not perceived as being bad (even though they are).  And when you've been doing the same thing over and over again for so many years - then logic and reason don't matter so much.  So I hereby give up trying to make a difference - and will only watch on with barely concealed contempt (and pity).