Do you have Digital Stockholm Syndrome?
The media is hijacking your mind for their benefit. Here's how to avoid it.
Hey Unbreakables!
I've been having a lot of conversations lately that have one theme in common: fear.
Fear of war. Fear of collapse. Fear of what the future holds. And everywhere we turn, the headlines double down on it. The Middle East. Domestic politics. Climate. Viruses. You name it.
The media doesn’t just report fear - it weaponises it to keep us hooked.
They’re not just reporting - it’s programming. And fear is the shortcut to our attention.
Through trial-and-error, the media learned what behavioural psychologists have long known: fear is the most effective way to hijack attention and keep it. This is what’s known as an "amygdala hijack."
Here’s what happens:
Every time we scroll, swipe, or click, our brain screens for relevance. The information first hits our thalamus, then branches two ways: to the neocortex (the rational brain) and the amygdala (the emotional one). The amygdala processes faster - because survival beats strategy.
So if the content even smells like danger, the amygdala grabs the wheel.
Suddenly, we're in a fight-or-flight state over something happening on the other side of the world. Not because we're weak, but because we’re wired that way.
And the media? They've figured out how to ride shotgun.
They don’t just trigger fear. They offer the antidote. They frame themselves as the “trusted authority,” the voice of stability. The result is a psychological loop: threat > fear > safety. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Digital Stockholm Syndrome.
We return to the very platform that scares us, hoping it will soothe us.
Why would they do this? Simple: survival. Mainstream media is bleeding viewers to independent creators, podcasts, and newsletters. Fear is the one drug they know we’ll keep coming back for.
The side effect? A distorted reality. A world that feels more dangerous than it is.
To see through this fear, let’s put today’s headlines in perspective:
World War I (1914–1918): 16 million dead, modern propaganda was born.
Great Depression (1930s): Global economies tanked.
World War II (1939–1945): 70–85 million gone, the Holocaust’s horror.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Nuclear war a button away.
9/11 Attacks (2001): Security redefined overnight.
Global Financial Crisis (2007–08): Markets crashed, trust vanished.
But we’re still here.
Statistically, we’re in the safest era ever - global poverty’s down from 90% in 1820 to under 10% today. But fear clouds that truth, especially when war, climate change, or AI feels apocalyptic.
Like nuclear risks in the ’60s, though, we’re already adapting.
But fear doesn’t run on statistics. It runs on perception.
So the next time you feel that spike of panic while watching the news or scrolling your feed, ask yourself:
Who benefits from this?
Is it a real threat?
Or just a hijacking attempt - someone trying to turn your amygdala into a hostage?
We're not here to live in fear. We’re here to build something unbreakable - our resilience, our clarity, our communities.
And that starts by taking the wheel back.
Practical first steps? Cross-check headlines with primary sources. Limit news consumption. Talk to real people instead of feeding the scroll.
Do not be afraid.
With care,
Danny.