Navigating Trauma in the Modern World: Can Watching Distressing News Elicit a Trauma Response?
Unfortunately, with the ever changing tumultuality of 2020-2022, frequent consumption of the news has become the norm. Although in the past one would say that this was a “necessary evil” to build social awareness, many these days are noticing internal shifts that feel unshakeable. Why? Because daily consumption of traumatic or distressing content news or content can elicit a trauma response. What is this trauma response? It is called “vicarious trauma”.
Vicarious trauma is the experience of psychological change that results from empathic engagement with survivors of trauma. This “engagement” does not have to be interpersonal, and can range from video-based media, text-based media, audio-based media, and more.
These trauma responses are a result of the brain’s fight-flight-freeze-fawn response being activated repeatedly and inadvertently getting stuck on “on”. Symptoms of vicarious trauma may look similar to those of PTSD experienced by someone who has been a direct victim of trauma. These symptoms include sleep disruption, hypervigilance, unease, anxiety, depression and more.
To legitimize these findings, Holman, Silver, Garfin & Lubens in 2019 found that “media exposure to collective trauma is associated with acute stress (AS) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)” Comstock & Platania (2017) also had similar findings indicating the impact of the media on the development on secondary traumatic stress.
In what ways can you manage your response to staying informed & how can you balance staying informed and not becoming too distressed?
Although this is a more common occurrence than we would like to admit, we are not destined to feel this way forever. The good news is that as human beings are incredibly resilient, we have the innate capacity to work through helplessness, and our resiliency is what allows us to move these feelings of overwhelm along. Although there is much that is beyond our control, how we cope with these feelings is not one of them.
Here are a few ways to cope with these feelings, whilst also staying cautiously informed about the global climate:
Don’t invalidate your experience: What is happening in the world is not normal, your reaction to it absolutely is normal. These are trying times where routine, habits, structure, and ways of being and interacting are all being challenged and reshaped. The media you are consuming is not “tv drama” they are real events, impacting real people. Your feelings, whether elicited by direct or indirect consumption of real-world events are processed by your brain in the exact same way.
Find coping skills that work for you: Coping skills sound great. Meditation, yoga, and journaling all sound wonderful. But what actually works for you? Different folks have different ways of coping. All of us have different stories, different perspectives, and different pain points. There is no one-size-fits-all. Coping for you might look like boxing, listening to music, doing pottery, making clay jewelry, or just going on long walks through a busy city street.
Tune out: It is good to consume news-related content, necessary even. For some, watching the news comes from a place of survival. However, most things in excess can be harmful. Try not to over consume the news, look through traumatic images, or watch shock value videos. Block off 5 minutes a day for a quick summary of global news, or maybe what you need is for it to be every other day. Find what works, and stick to it.
Be curious: You may not always be able to make the connection between watching the news and daily stress. So try to be curious about your feelings before attributing them to other things. Don’t go with the first explanation for why you are feeling the way you are, consider the second or third.
Create routine: When the world feels chaotic, don’t let your routine be too. Let your daily routine be the anchor that brings you back to safety when everything feels out of control. Create rituals. Something small like a hot cup of tea before bed, a daily stroll before you sit down for work in the morning or a mid-day coffee break outside. Let your rituals and routine be the things that you do to remind yourself that you are worthy of nurturance.
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