My Mom is always watching the news and it adds to her depression and bad attitude. Does anyone else have this issue?

I use Roku a lot, too; you only watch what you want.... Christian channels, old movies, classic TV; don't even have regular TV many years now.  I haven't figured out all the ways to use Roku yet, but after paying $25 for it (a deal), it is free, and plenty of time to learn the rest of it.

I use Roku to stream YouTube videos of variety shows (Lawrence Welk) and concerts (Daniel O'Donnell) and MeTV for old TV series (Leave it to Beaver, Perry Mason, Have Gun will travel, etc.) If you get the YouTube Red subscription, you can get ad free content.

the trump bump paid for my family vacation to Hawaii with first class hotel. but I guess I could have found something to whine about instead. Mahalo Mr. President.

No, Jeanne I didn't. I probably should have.

Yikes, that would upset me too, Gershun. Did you report it to FB? They need to know about it to ban it.

Jeanne I belonged to several animal groups when I was on FB. They know when you look at certain sites and next thing you know you get sent what looks like is going to be a heartwarming video of a cat and you click on it and it's something horrific. I had this happen to me and I was upset for days afterward just picturing it. That happened only once but that was enough for me. Good bye Facebook and good riddance I say.

Hmm. I've never seen an animal torture video on Facebook. Well, unless you count the before pictures of abused animals who have been rescued and are now healthy. I see lots and lots and lots of pro-animals threads. Maybe it is just a matter of who my friends are and therefore what shows up on my feed.

mally you are right! That is one of the reasons I canceled my Facebook account.

So I was wandering thru this older thread and found out that Facebook allows animal torture videos. I don't do Facebook, and now will HATE them forever!

Since 9/11 I've had a personal dinnertime news curfew -- no hard or upsetting news from dinner on. However, my loved one likes to watch news at almost any time of day, and listen to NPR a lot, too. Sometimes I just have to put on earbuds and quietly listen to soothing music to be in my own world of non-news. Also, sometimes I can quickly pull up a relaxing nature program or Antiques Roadshow on the DVR instead of news.....

I personally avoid CNN. They take a disaster and make it a six- month story. Run the sad footage over and over and over again. I don't have dementia but watching all that would make anyone depressed. I don't want to hide my head in the sand but there is a limit.

My goodness, after the last 8 years, anything, even Trump, is a relief.

Owl, Turner Classic Movies has oldies, sometimes good ones w/o any crime or violent activity. Another station which I can't remember now also has those marvelous old Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy movies.

Blackhole, I think you're right about the cycle of bad news, especially that coming from Puerto Rico. The extent of the devastation is unimaginable. Add to that the mass shootings, plus the political fiasco and shananigans...

Sometimes I watch This Old House just for relief; I can't understand what the tradesmen are doing with all the new and probably expensive devices for renovated houses, so I'm lost in seconds, and that confusion replaces the anxiety of the cable news channels and their endless parade and endless obsession with the playpen that the White House has become.

Windy, after my house was burglarized a decade ago, I investigated various types of alarms. One I discovered would have been very effective, but would also have disrupted life in the surrounding areas. It didn't just alarm, it played some kind of trumpeting sound accompanied with strobe lights. I can't remember what it was called.

It probably would have scared all the four-legged wildlife away as well.

But the audaciousness of it is comparable to the audaciousness of the political performances on center stage now. ...sometimes like entry of a Roman legion....cue the mikes, lights, cameras, grab the podium, turn one way or another while letting hair flop in face. It's like an orchestrated comedy.

How'd I miss this thread? Fox News, trump etc....Good stuff.

Wonder how much was deleted by ad min.

My 87 yr old mom gets more upset by the local "Crash and Burn" news. She wants me to get them a security alarm system. She can hardly use a phone. I can just imagine the fun we'd have with silence codes, false alarms to the cops, resetting issues. Ain't gonna happen.

Soaking up the news also feeds their fears and anxieties. It’s a bad cycle.

This used to be a problem for my mother. Fox News all day/every day! And when I stayed overnight with her after her surgery three years ago, it was even going throughout the night.

I don't hear that much about what she's heard/seen on Fox News anymore, though. I think her hearing's gotten worse, she isn't following what they say, or she just doesn't care.

I used to get her books from the library, and she doesn't even want that anymore, either.

She does get the newspaper two days/week, and she does still think she's a financial guru and try to tell us things from the financial news.

Yes 8 am until bedtime of CNN! It does seem to cause added depression. I've been keeping my mom busy now and less tv. Oldies are great, and some old documentaries in place of the news. I also showed mom how to find music channels on the tv. She likes that, she can pick the genre of music she likes.

I finally deactivated my Facebook account. Every day I was getting these heartrending stories about people abusing, torturing and doing every cruel unimaginable thing to their pets, other people's pets etc. I received one the other day which looked pretty innocent. A guy boiled water on his stove and when his cat came to the door.............well you get the picture. I just rehear the screams from that cat every minute. So...........no more FB for me. And yes, I did try to reset my settings to weed out those stories but I guess since I'm an animal lover they just somehow found me. So.............good riddance FB!

Let me just say The Weather Channel icon is now burned into my mother's t.v. You can still see it even when you change the channel hahaha!

My FIL is obsessed with the weather. If there is a potential weather tragedy unfolding somewhere in the world he will be glued to the television.

FreqFlyer. Its funny you mention your father watching the weather. Is it me, or do men have a lot more interest in weather? When I was working the guys in the office had logged into all these sophisticated weather maps that seemed to be on their screens half the day. My husband is ALWAYS logging in and out of the weather channels! Me? I look outside and dress accordingly. Other than when a snowstorm is predicted, I don't care - its weather and it comes and goes.
Anyway, this appears to be an old thread but I'll weigh in anyway. My mother used to watch CNN and then she would start in with the "isn't it awful" talk. Sadly, our tv news stations thrive on everything bad, and now the internet news is the same. I no longer watch any news on tv - and lately have stopped reading on line articles. I glance at the headline, that's it. It is so depressing for anyone to hear only the bad, over and over. News seldom reports anything from other countries, or anything good. No wonder the US docs prescribe so many antidepressants. We are being led into the swamp of violence, hate and sex by the media.

Quite honestly, even for the younger person the news does bring them down! I have to say if watching the Weather Channel, with "the repetitive on the 8's" [insert UGH], then so be it! Buy up bulk ear plugs-LOL.

I used to love the weather channel back in the day when they had actual educational segments but it's been a long while since we even had the capability. It doesn't matter why your father found it urgent just that it did and most importantly it gave him a reason to call you and talk with you.

Joanne656, my Dad was a weather-watcher junkie. It came from working on a farm back in his youth where weather was highly important.

The only draw back would be that Dad would call me saying things like the schools were closed in Chicago because of the snow. Well, that's interesting since I have no children and live in Virginia :P But to Dad it was important. I wish I had more patience to understand why that was so urgent to him back when he was still with us.... [sigh]

I have the same problem when "I" watch the news, I quit watching years ago for my sanity! Mom watches but understands very little of what is really going on politically but she does and always has seemed to fixate on all the tragedies they play over and over and over at nauseaum!

I know these posts are a year old, but have to add this. My mom passed away two years ago. She was hard of hearing and wanted to watch the weather channel all the time. Don't know why because she never went outside. It drove me absolutely nuts--especially the local on the 8's with that music! She would turn the volume up so loud! I wore earplugs and read books or went to another room. I have not watched the weather channel since.

Yes, this was a big problem with my FIL for over a year. When we would visit, he was watching the idiot box. We asked him to turn it off but he would just turn down the volume, his eyes still glued to the television. After a few times of this, my husband and I would say something like "we're obviously interrupting your program" and we would get up and leave. We did this several times. Now when we visit, the television is off and the radio is on. He's also reading books again.

You can change your behavior and reaction to your mother's television news addiction. I think it's perfectly acceptable to tell your mother that you do not share her interest in bad news. If she won't quit bad news, and her depression is getting worse, maybe the only solution is get rid of cable television. I wish you lots of luck!

I'm going to avoid giving my political viewpoints and simply say my mother was the same. She was a very negative person anyway. Her favorite expression when she was in her 80's & 90's was "isn't it awful".
The news is easy for them to understand (as opposed to more complicated shows and dramas with fast talking and fast movements). Since the news focuses on nothing but the sensational and mostly bad you have to expect it feeds into their negativity.
Seniors are very conscious of the news which is not very cheerful. They lived during a time when there was much more patriotism, less strife and violence in America then there is today. With advance technology, all the bad stuff from all over the world is at their fingertips and the media loves to report it.

Yes! So glad you brought up this point. Both my parents tune in to a local news show and watch the bad reports over and over... they both have dementia, so they react with the same horror and dread each time. They start with the daily paper, which has the same focus on bad news. I don't even own a television, but I have started to use their TV guide to switch to either entertaining or educational shows when I'm there, saying "I think you guys will like this, can we watch it for a short while?" They're curious enough to say yes, and then they get into the show easily and usually enjoy it. I often ask if we can turn the television off and listen to some music - that's less popular with them, as it doesn't give them something to "watch," but it's still better than a steady diet of bad news. Keep trying!

Fact check: is it *true* that the Clintons "own" ABC? As has just been claimed on our lunchtime news by Mr Trump's spokesman.

To UK ears that sounds like a wild exaggeration, but on the other hand how would I know - is it so?