key: cord-0879741-k8jeds57
authors: Dong, Mengyuan; Zheng, Jin
title: Letter to the editor: Headline stress disorder caused by Netnews during the outbreak of COVID‐19
date: 2020-03-30
journal: Health Expect
DOI: 10.1111/hex.13055
sha: a0958b159f9f5e124ae1c7c16ee3b2bbbbc7be4f
doc_id: 879741
cord_uid: k8jeds57

nan

To the editor:

In December 2019, an ongoing outbreak of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19 or 2019-nCoV) pneumonia hit Wuhan, a major city of China, and then quickly spread to other provinces/regions of China and even the whole world. It has attracted worldwide attention, and for a long time, the news coverage was overwhelming. The news coverage made the general public feel dazed and even plunged into anxiety and panic. The use of instant-messaging technology and mobile phones makes the news spread faster and exacerbates the anxiety and panic of public. The psychological disorder caused by too many news coverage was named as 'headline stress disorder'. It 1 was first defined by psychologist Dr Steven Stosny as a high emotional response to endless reports from the news media, such as feeling anxiety and stress.

Although it is not a medical diagnosis, the continued anxiety or stress may cause physical functionals disorders, including palpitation, chest tightness and insomnia, and further progression may lead to physical and mental diseases, such as anxiety disorders, depression disorders, endocrine disorders and hypertension. 2,3 On 30 September 2014, after the first laboratory-diagnosed Ebola virus was diagnosed in the United States, a media firestorm erupted with constant updates of the Ebola 'crisis'. 4 The public anxiety and panic ensued after the report was frequently attributed to the media's dramatized and sensational coverage. 5 Subsequently, media reports from unauthorized sources during the ongoing monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria were sensationalized and led to increased anxiety in the population. 6 The result of this type of coverage could lead to stress and panic among the general public. This 

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Association between psychosocial stress and hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Spreading Ebola panic: Newspaper and social media coverage of the 2014 Ebola Health Crisis

Doctor Says Media Coverage of Ebola Fanned the hysteria. Association of Health Care Journalists

Lay media reporting of monkeypox in Nigeria

Disaster media coverage and psychological outcomes: descriptive findings in the extant research