You may feel like every time you turn on the news (or read it online) you're learning about some new horror headed our way. Maybe you wish you could just stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes tightly, and chant "LA LA LA" at the top of your lungs to block it all out.

There's a loosely coined name for this. It's called "doom fatigue."  Those of us who closely follow current events are the most susceptible to it. And it's very real. These devices that keep us connected to a constant flow of information are great, but that same constant flow can also contribute to a state of overwhelm and mental exhaustion.

What is doom fatigue?

Doom fatigue refers to the feeling of overwhelm a person may get when faced with one negative event after another during a short period of time. When there's a topic that is being constantly reported on, you can feel like a situation is even worse than it really is, simply because it's always right there on the forefront of every website or news broadcast.