I'm pretty certain that watching Fox News makes people grow older faster

[zulchzulu]

I was visiting my father this Christmas, which was his first holiday without his wife of 53 years. She had passed away six months ago and he has been slowly adjusting to the huge change. It's been tough on everyone, but especially him.

He looks like he has aged several years in the past six months. It's something I will have to think about adjusting my visits there to be with him more often.

He's also just a lot angrier. Not the funny guy I have known over the years...

Sure, it could be the big loss of the love of his life. But I think there's more.

On his TV at nearly all times is Fox News. He wakes up to it. He does his papers and such to it. He eats dinner watching it. He falls asleep to it being on.

It's disgusting. And I don't have the heart to tell him that he shouldn't watch it. Yet.

I was there watching him watching it and interrupting the crap throughout different episodes where it was clearly red meat Obama-demonizing propaganda. Admittedly, they are masters at fear, innuendo, paranoia and misinformation using Barbie Dolls and semi-ugly Republican Men with no shortage of garish jingoism in set color and sound. It's almost soothing like someone watching Tass in the Russian Federation would enjoy.

The main point is that the messaging, branding and overall experience is meant to make you mad. Outraged. Scared. Even xenophobic.

That's what it's doing to my dad. I can see the anger seething and it's evaporating years off his lifespan.

When I talk to him in a couple days, I may mention it candidly and see if he can make a New Year's Resolution to only watch Fox News an hour a day. I'll mention that it might make him happier.

I'm convinced that watching Fox News kills like any other disease.

[MrMickeysMom]

1. Maybe your suggestion should include...

Watching "Democracy Now!" (if he gets Bridges on the high end of the cable network), which might be easier to get him to do, as it doesn't compete with it.

Good luck.

[roguevalley]

16. tell him about my dad. I had to block it on the teevee because

it was addling him. He had strokes and it made understanding things a little bit harder even though his faculties were all there. Speed was down. He would watch normal news and be fine and then flip to fox and get just addled. Cognitive disonance. I finally had to block it and he came back to normal. Your dad would too. I will also say that a death like that will kick you to the curb where you will stay for a long time. If he didn't have fox on he would climb back faster. Being someone who had loses like that four year ago, I am just now reaching anything close to normal. 53 year partner, gone. Life, gone. Mind, gone for a while. He will come back without fox a lot, lot faster. Try your hardest, honey and know a lot of us are with you.

[Hannah Bell]

2. I think it's more likely the loss of his companion of 53 years has aged him. and that the loss &

anger & loneliness makes him watch more tv & seek something to displace his loss & anger into.

maybe he needs more company.

[SharonAnn]

11. No, I don't think so. I've seen people get hooked on Fox news and it changes them.

Of course, there's my observation that two peopl I know who became Fox obsessed and raving right-wing loonies were diagnosed with Alzheimer's Dementia within two years.

A psychologist friend of mine explained that it could be that as they were becoming more confused, that black-and-white thinking and simple answers appealed to them. And that their fear could now be displaced onto whatever the right-wing meme of the week was, instead of admitting their fear about losing their mental abilities.

I don't think Fox causes dementia, just that it might be appealing to those who are in the early stages of it.

[JI7]

3. i think it's losing the partner of 53 years which did that

the anger might have more to do with watching Fox News though.

you should try to get him invovled in some other things.

[snagglepuss]

4. My condolences. Losing a spouse of 53 years is a profound loss.

Perhaps he needs to speak to a grief counsellor as men in your Dad's situation can find such a loss extremely difficult to handle. He probably needs company as he adjusts to his new life.

[Mopar151]

5. Our local Faux affiliate

Even manages to spin the weather.....

[nenagh]

6. If Murdoch/Fox News exists to make viewers dissatisfied enough that they

begin to believe the Faux propaganda,

and they use anger as one of their tools,

then it is hard not to blame some of your Dad's anger on Fox.

But I do remember listening to a lecture by a psychiatrist who said that she linked being constantly irritable with depression.

Good luck in helping your Dad..

And good luck in finding alternative stations he will enjoy.

[tledford]

7. Don't know if it makes people older, but there is no question that it kills brain cells. eom

[BlueJazz]

8. My take on it>> Your Father could probably deal with the loss (in time) of ...

...his partner and love under ordinary circumstances.,,and might even carry on his life with joy and hopefullness..
BUT...having the incredible depressing Fox noise on, day by day, is not allowing your Father to Heal or recover his spirit.

Just my take on it.. :)

[enough]

9. This happened to my parents when they were both still alive. No question that

a steady diet of Fox News made them more angry, more fearful, less compassionate, and less tolerant of diversity. They were also completely unwilling to listen to the idea that Fox is not news but propaganda. These were two people who began adult life at the far left, were intellectually curious, and were very active into old age. With them the big change was Fox.

I don't mean to minimize the effect of your father's grief, which can life-shattering. But his world-view is also being shaped by what he's ingesting from TV, at a time when he's most vulnerable and alone.

[Newcanuck]

10. Misinformation

Anger is an integral part of the grief process. Unfortunately, Fauxnoise taps into that anger and exacerbates it.

How do they get away, though, with showing a poll where the figures add up to 120%? Perhaps gently pointing out such incongruities could ease the way into a discussion about how they lie all the time and maybe Dad could try watching something (anything, really) else?

[felix_numinous]

12. Humorous dramatic movies

can also be quite cathartic. I would bring him DVD's encouraging him to really engage in other subjects, sports, adventure, perhaps even tutorials on some projects he can work on. If you have already tried this, please excuse my suggestion. I went through this same thing with some elders in my family.

[fatbuckel]

13. I have a friend who watches Fux News alot and it gave him diabetes.

[niceypoo]

14. My friends father in law underwent a similar transformation

From listening to Rush Limbaugh.

After months of listening to Rush, his demeanor changed markedly. He became angry all the time and spent his days pacing back and forth ranting and raging about, 'the liberals.' He would angrily repeat whatever he heard on the show to whoever was around him. His wife eventually made him stop listening because he had become so angry and hateful that nobody could stand being around him anymore.

[mtnsnake]

15. Something similar happened to a former friend of mine

and I never realized the reason why until just now when I read your post. This guy and I used to be friends even though he sometimes leaned a little to the right of center. He was actually a conflict of a personality in that he had some conservative traits on one hand, yet he had numerous liberal traits on the other. He was a pretty cool guy overall. Then he got a job which required him to spend at least half his working time driving in a company car. He took up listening to Rush Limbaugh to kill the time and because Rush is so available on radio in any part of the country, even remote areas. Over the next few years, my former buddy lost any of his liberal traits and became such an annoying person, that I simply couldn't take it anymore. He went from being a good-hearted person to someone who became very rude, obnoxious, and insulting to his friends. He started lying through his teeth on a regular basis. My wife and I often wondered how he could go through such a drastic change. Now, after reading your post, I finally realize why. Chalk up another real-life product of arrogance and hatred to Rush Limbaugh, and to Fox News, as well.

[zulchzulu]

17. Thanks to all for sharing your stories and your input

Perhaps testing people's blood pressure before and after watching Fox News would be an interesting experiment.

I talked to my father today wishing him a happy new year and he had a good day visiting the beach with some friends. Fresh air and ocean waves beat being glued to Fox News any day.

Best to all of you! :hi:

[ProgressOnTheMove]

18. I think news in general has a stress factor but they turn it up to 11, humans need a stress free

free existence to live long. It's not the good die young, many of the youthful film stars and heroes had bad habits but an idolized aura. Good people do live long with unstressful lives. Don't worry be happy is always good advice to staying young, certainly things we must worry about but where there is little we can realistically do to change things why worry. To stay 'can do ' people we must always see the positive to every dark situation, and find constructive ways of always reaching our goals even if it takes longer than expected..

[ShadowLiberal]

19. Stress does age someone faster, look at before & after pictures of presidents

If you're only listening to stuff met to scare you and make you angry all the time you will be stressed out a lot. So it wouldn't be surprising that you'd age faster because of it.

However, I don't think you can really blame this entirely on Fox if the guy's wife died only 6 months ago. I've heard it can take over 6 months for people to get over the death of someone as close as a spouse or parent. As an adult the death of a spouse is the biggest event that can effect you psychologically and change you.

If his wife died suddenly in a car crash or something (you didn't say) then that'll make adjusting to not having her even harder on your dad, because he wasn't ready for it/expecting it. If it was a slower death by something like cancer then he's probably been aging faster for more then 6 months, you're only just noticing the signs now.