What’s Your Media Diet? A Reflection on Leadership and Mental Health

As leaders, we’re often told to stay informed—to be aware, engaged, and responsive to the world around us. But in our pursuit of awareness, are we sacrificing our clarity?

This spring, I had the opportunity to reflect during Spring Break—a structured pause in the school year that’s unique to education. Not many professions offer this kind of collective opportunity for rest. It’s a gift, but also a responsibility. Breaks like these aren’t just for catching up—they’re for resetting, realigning, and recharging, especially for those doing emotionally complex work.

In conversations with colleagues across the country during the break, one theme came up again and again: the invisible weight of constant media consumption and its connection to growing mental health concerns among educators and leaders alike.

We already know the statistics are serious. A 2024 study published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, in collaboration with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, found that over 22.5 million adults in the U.S. experienced a depressive episode in 2022. Depression is now one of the costliest health conditions in the country, surpassing $326 billion annually.

Even more telling: while depression affects Americans across political lines, access to treatment varies. The study notes that Republicans are significantly less likely to seek mental health care, underscoring that stigma, access, and trust still present major barriers.

At Des Moines Public Schools, we serve nearly 5,000 employees—people who give deeply of themselves every day. And while we can’t solve every systemic barrier, we can pause and examine the conditions we can control. One of them is our media diet.

What Are You Consuming?

We often think of “diet” in terms of restriction. But more broadly, a diet is simply what we habitually consume. What we take in—whether through food, conversation, or media—shapes our health.

Just like an unbalanced nutritional diet can impact our physical wellness, a constant stream of unfiltered media can distort our emotional equilibrium. And today, we’re exposed to more content, opinions, crises, and commentary than ever before—often without intentionality.

So I invite you to reflect:

This isn’t about disengaging from reality. It’s about building media habits that nourish rather than drain us. Responsible leadership requires us to stay aware—but not at the cost of our mental wellbeing.

In Change or Die, Alan Deutschman writes that even when the stakes are high, most people resist change. But I believe that as leaders—particularly those working in service to others—we have the ability, and obligation, to do things differently.

Leadership Requires Boundaries

We are doing emotionally intense, deeply human work. And that means we must also care for our inputs—what we allow into our heads, hearts, and homes.

Let’s use these structured breaks, like Spring Break, not just as time off, but as time in—time to be more intentional about how we restore ourselves. Take inventory of your media habits. If they’re not serving your peace or your purpose, it’s time to make a shift.

Because the truth is: you can’t pour from an empty vessel. And sometimes the most radical thing a leader can do is turn down the noise to hear their own wisdom.

By Dr. Ian A. Roberts, OLY Superintendent, Des Moines Public Schools