This week's news was overwhelming. Here's how to protect your brain

It's been one of those weeks when instead of coming to social media for laughs or conversation

it feels like a never-ending doom scroll. You may have seen a sensitive video of Charlie Kirk's

assassination unsolicited. And then on top of that, there was news of another school shooting

and somber reminders of the 9-11 terror attacks and the constant cycle of bad news we often live

with. It's not normal or healthy for us. So how about a digital detox? Our brain is sort of like

swimming in a soup of constant stress hormones, because even if you can say, oh, it's far away

or something, you know, you can try to minimize it. Your brain is looking at it and saying

oh my gosh, that happened to a human. And I saw it. I sat down with Dr. K to talk about some of

the content you or your child may have seen online. She specializes in trauma for kids

but shared a lot that adults can benefit from too, especially for parents navigating these topics with

kids. So parents are people too, right? So we have to manage our own stress response, the adults

so that we can help our kids manage theirs. Otherwise, it's not going to work very well

So how do you do that? Start with breathing. Dr. K says to think of trauma in the brain like an app

When something shocking happens, your brain opens that trauma app and starts flooding you with alerts

It's a built-in survival system releasing stress chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol to help you escape danger

The problem is your brain doesn't always know the difference between far away and right now

so it responds like the threat is in the room with you. Acknowledging that and then choosing to close the app helps you take control back and then put your phone down If there something that urgent for you to know like if there an active threat in your area you will find out about it Reading

and reading and scrolling and scrolling is not going to get you anywhere. So saying I will shut

my phone for the next hour, I am mindfully our entire family, we're having family dinner

phones are off, not because I'm this mean controlling parent, but because our brains need a

break and we need to focus on each other right now. But we all know how hard it is to just put

your phone down, especially if you're looking to social media for funny videos or something to cheer

you up. Dr. K suggests stepping outside and getting fresh air, which increases oxygen to the brain

and reduces stress hormones. Then clean house. Manage permissions on your kids' social media to

block traumatic images. And for yourself, filter your feed too. Sometimes that means reading your

news instead of visualizing your news, like setting your filters, like let's say on more

visual media, I only want to read about stories like that. Like even 9-11, I don't want to look

at the images. Words are so much safer than pictures for our brain to process

While doom scrolling and brain rot may sound like slang, they're real. The first red flag is when you

feel trapped, like you're in jail to your phone, constantly swiping to get more information

The next is a feeling of anxiety when your body thinks you're in an emergency

heart pounding, stomach clenching, even if nothing's actually happening. Trauma is scary. Social media is scary

The news can be scary, even for me. And I'm the one giving you the news

But there are ways to protect yourself. And always remember, if this feels too big to handle alone, it's okay to give professional help

With Straight Arrow News, I'm Kennedy Felton. Download our app or visit san.com for more