A Florida neurologist says the constant churn of alarming news and social media content isn’t just stressful — it may be putting patients’ nervous systems into a prolonged state of alert that produces real physical symptoms, from headaches to dizziness.
Dr. Steven Resnick, chief of the Division of Neurology and medical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, calls the condition “helicopter brain.” He likens it to a helicopter parent who hovers constantly over a child, except in this case it’s the nervous system hovering over the body, perpetually scanning for danger.
“Imagine your own helicopter — that is your nervous system,” Resnick told Fox News Digital. “Your nervous system’s job is to protect you from harm.”
The comments follow a new analysis of 44 studies, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, that found a link between “doomscrolling” — excessive consumption of negative online content — and higher rates of anxiety and psychological distress. The researchers stopped short of saying doomscrolling causes those problems, but the association adds to growing concern about how constant digital information intake affects mental and physical health.
Real Symptoms, Unclear Cause
Resnick, who also hosts “The Healthy Mind” podcast, said information overload, overstimulation and uncertainty can keep the brain on high alert, activating the body’s autonomic nervous system.
“The brain is scanning for danger,” he said. “When it scans for danger, then you have that autonomic nervous system pushing the accelerator.”
He said he regularly sees patients with symptoms they can’t explain — headaches, gastrointestinal trouble, fatigue, sleep disturbances, tingling and dizziness — who end up bouncing between specialists before anyone identifies a likely cause.
“They end up going to see a neurologist, who sends them to the gastroenterologist, who sends them to the cardiologist, then the rheumatologist,” Resnick said. “They don’t understand what they’re feeling is actually authentic, it’s real — it’s the nervous system that is actually activated.”
Five Steps Resnick Recommends
Resnick said heightened alertness doesn’t come only from scrolling the news — everyday stress and ingrained habits can produce the same effect. He outlined five strategies for recognizing the pattern and calming the nervous system.
Feel heard first. Resnick said his first move with patients is simply to listen. “I hear patients say, ‘I’m scared, I’m fearful, I’m concerned, I’m worried,’ and then you start to realize what their nervous system is telling you,” he said. “The solution can be done later. And we have to stop using the word ‘fixing,’ because a lot of things cannot be fixed — but over time, you can start feeling better.”
Notice the pattern. “Mindfulness is not just about meditation; it’s about noticing,” Resnick said, pointing to examples like repeated conflict with a coworker, racing thoughts at night, or stress eating. Left unchecked, these behaviors become automatic. “The brain wants to resort to what is familiar, what is safe and what is known,” he said.
Catch the trigger. Resnick said it’s crucial to identify the cue that sets off a pattern — which can be almost anything. “It could be your boss’ face. It could be a telephone. It could be a chair or a couch in a room. It could be a smell or a feeling,” he said. That cue can prompt automatic behavior like procrastinating, eating or lashing out, and if the behavior brings relief, the brain is more likely to repeat it — even when the behavior is worry itself.
Replace the habit and reward it. Resnick advises swapping an unwanted behavior for a healthier one tied to a noticeable reward. “Give your new habit a reward you can feel,” he said, suggesting something as simple as the sense of accomplishment after a morning workout. “Even checkboxing something on a piece of paper feels good,” he said. “Rewards are very important. Even the small ones are important.”
Float instead of fight. When anxiety or panic hits, Resnick recommends not resisting it. “Don’t fight it,” he said. “You want to allow it. You want to feel it.” He said avoiding a feared situation reinforces the brain’s belief that it’s dangerous, while safely experiencing it — such as someone with claustrophobia going through with an MRI — can retrain the brain. “After you have that experience where you felt safe and you went toward it, then your brain and body … pair it as being safe,” he said.
Resnick said the ultimate goal is “to teach the brain safety through your body and through your brain and mind.” He added that anyone with persistent or unexplained physical symptoms should still see a doctor to rule out underlying medical conditions.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login