Joan Cook, a psychologist and associate professor at Yale University, wrote an article about how terrorist attacks could harm people’s emotional health and who is exposed the most to news about such events.
When news on tragic events like terrorist attacks comes it provokes anxiety. It is not unusual for people to be anxious about what could happen to them in public places. Terrorists could attack anywhere – and this makes anxiety increase.
Nevertheless, not everyone realizes that a sad event could also cause a traumatic experience for those who learned about it secondhand from media reports. Every one of us could potentially be exposed to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The current state of online media including social networks creates the possibility for a person to watch a tragic event unfolding live in all details, just as if they were directly involved.
First of all, pictures and videos taken by eyewitnesses are published, and then come professional reports and official statements. Finally, media publishes personal stories and interviews with the relatives of those affected by the tragedy.
These stories are expected to help the audience feel more compassion for the victims. However, these reports could be traumatizing for a lot of people. According to Cook, up to 50 percent of individuals in the US experience exposure to potentially traumatic events.
If a person feels too impacted by a tragic event he or she is often described as hyperemotional. However, according to the professor, some people just feel more emotionally impacted than others, so "we should not judge ourselves or others for how we respond to events in the news."
"Just as someone may have a susceptibility to physical health problems (cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure), some of us are more vulnerable to mental health difficulties like post-traumatic stress disorder," she wrote.
Another important factor is a lack of social support after traumatic exposure, the article read.
The psychologist underscored that there is a difference in intensiveness of posttraumatic stress between a combat veteran and a person watching news on TV. However, the fact is that both situations are equally traumatogenic.
In times of difficult life experiences, Cook noted, it is important to maintain an active lifestyle and take care of oneself, including having adequate sleep, pleasurable activities, and communicating with supportive people.