When doomscrolling could lead to ‘vicarious trauma’

If you’re old enough to remember the attacks of September 11, 2001, you may still see the events in your mind, even though more than two decades have passed.

Even if you didn’t see the attacks live, television networks brought the horrific images of planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York to people around the world.

And it was seen again and again.

Some people who watched repeated broadcasts developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including nightmares and flashbacks.

Fast forward to the age of social media and smartphones, and our exposure to disturbing content has never been more intense.

Charging…

WARNING: Some people may find the topics discussed in this article distressing.

In recent months, for example, a flood of stories from people affected by the Middle East conflict, including shocking images of dead or injured children, have circulated on X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms.

Experts fear that people are spending too much time on their phones, checking news and social posts that make them feel sad, anxious or angry.

And they say that this kind of “catastrophic displacement” could insidiously increase our risk of “vicarious trauma.” What can be done about it?

What is vicarious trauma?

Vicarious trauma is “second-hand” trauma, experienced when you are not directly affected by a distressing event, but you see it happen or are repeatedly exposed to stories about it.

Initially, studies of this phenomenon focused on professions such as military personnel, police officers, psychologists or journalists who had contact with graphic cases of violence or abuse.

But since events like 9/11, more attention has been paid to the impact of repeated exposure to distressing events through the media.

“People were worried about the [television] “Television networks, particularly in the US, repeatedly show planes crashing into the towers,” says Richard Bryant, a psychologist and PTSD expert based at UNSW Sydney.

Cases of PTSD documented in post-9/11 research showed that symptoms increased with the amount of time people spent re-watching the horror images.

Professor Bryant says repeated exposure to coverage of the era was particularly distressing for children and young people.

Kim Felmingham, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Melbourne, agrees.

“It was really impossible to escape the images, they kept repeating themselves,” he says.

The endless stream of traumatic content on social media about current events, such as the Israel-Gaza conflict, could have an even worse effect.

“The worrying thing is that it’s not really regulated,” says Professor Felmingham.

“Certainly with the level of saturation, the level of violence that’s being displayed… and I think the level of vitriol in the debate… I think all of that is probably going to lead to some vicarious trauma for some people.”

Arash Javanbakht is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where he directs the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic.

He points to uncensored videos featuring traumatic images of decapitated children as examples of extreme content circulating on social media.

“You never see a decapitated child on television, but if you go on Twitter or other social media you might see it.

“The intensity of exposure to the gore and horror aspects [of conflict] is much higher.”

The good, the bad and the ugly of displacement

Prominent images of injured or dead children have a particular psychological effect, says Professor Felmingham.

Research involving police and paramedics shows that when a child is involved in a traumatic incident or viewing images, the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increases.

And the fact that traumatic images are interspersed in the same signal as everyday life makes matters worse, Professor Felmingham adds.

“What can really enhance the horror is seeing those juxtapositions.”

Dr. Javanbakht agrees, emphasizing that the context of disturbing content is important.

When we sit on our couch and turn on the television news, we have time to prepare ourselves for distressing images.

“But with social media there’s a kind of unpredictable, uninvited nature,” he says.

In this context, he says, the brain goes into “threat detection mode.”

“When we see these images frequently, the threat and fear… can redirect attention to seeking more of them, and then the algorithms perceive us as interested in them and keep showing us more of them.”

Professor Bryant says many people re-expose themselves to disturbing material about conflicts such as the Israel-Gaza war because it can trigger anger, helping to reinforce a worldview in which one side has done wrong.

“This becomes the focus of a person’s waking hours, which is not psychologically healthy,” he says.

Not everyone is affected by vicarious trauma

While there is some research linking social media exposure to vicarious trauma, it can be difficult to prove a causal link, especially since there is the “chicken and egg” problem: do people get stressed from surfing the Internet, or do we surf the Internet because we are stressed?

But experts say there is enough evidence to suggest it may be a problem in the same way that other secondhand exposures to trauma have been shown to be.