physiologic response to social media

The constant barrage of news, cloaked in attention-getting words and images, is playing havoc with instinctual behavior that is millions of years old. There is, for me, a direct connection between fight or flee, chronic stress, and how we have chosen to use the medium of digital communication. Digital media is an out-of-control fear machine.
Humans, like the rest of our primate family, are social creatures. We need and crave company. That’s one reason solitary confinement is a very real punishment. There’s some interesting physiology behind our social needs.