In this letter to the editor, the authors present research that confirms that the more people are exposed to media about COVID-19, the more psychological distress they feel.

This is the first study to demonstrate a dose-response relationship between media exposure to COVID-19 information and psychological distress in the healthy population. Media-fueled psychological distress is harmful to not only the individuals experiencing the distress but also to others because of misplaced help-seeking behaviors consuming large amounts of health care resources.