What Does Viewing Violence Do to Your Mind? ‘Nothing Good,’ Experts Say
With the Israel-Hamas war dominating the news, traditional and social media are flooded with graphic images and videos depicting horrific violence. At what cost to our psyches?
“Nothing good” happens to your brain when you view violent images, says Iliyan Ivanov, a professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
While it’s important to be informed as a global citizen, and to bear witness to injustice, watching graphic images and disturbing videos can cause secondary trauma, negatively impacting your mental health. Such images can be especially triggering to people with mood disorders or those who have themselves experienced trauma.
Even worse, according to a recent study, consuming a steady stream of trauma-related media can trap viewers in a cycle of distress. Distressing news can create anxiety, and under its influence people can seek out more news to assuage it. But additional news rarely provides the desired sense of control or protection from future harm but instead exacerbates distress.
In an article at CNBC.com, experts offer five tips for maintaining your mental health while keeping current on world events:
1. Select a few reliable news sources to follow
Be selective about the media you consume. Alison Holman, a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine, studies trauma and media exposure.
“Identify sources of news that are reliable and trustworthy,” she says. “In other words, they provide actual news. What I recommend is you pick the top two, maybe three resources.”
2. Set a time limit
While “it’s important that people not put their heads in the sand,” says Holman, it’s critical not to consume an excess of news coverage.
Decide ahead of time how much time you’ll spend in order to avoid doomscrolling or marinating in tragedy. You can spend 15-20 minutes a day in the morning, and again in the evening, to stay adequately informed.
3. Read instead of watching video
“Graphic images will affect us much more [than reading articles],” says Ivanov, because “80% of the information the brain takes is from visual cues.”
Avoid platforms featuring an endless stream of video, like YouTube or TikTok, he encourages.
“A lot of bad things happen,” he says. “Do I need to see thousands of people dying? Of course not. There is no need to see everything in detail to understand how terrible it is.”
4. Pay attention to your body as you take in news
Be present to how the news is physiologically impacting you. “Are you starting to feel tension in your neck or shoulders?” Holman asks. “Is your breathing becoming more shallow?”
“Pay attention to the signals of what your body is telling you as you’re engaging with the news,” giving you cues that it’s time to take a break. “You can identify what’s triggering you to have a strong reaction.”
5. Find a balance with activities that recharge you
Seek out activities that help you relax or fill you with joy.
“Find something else to do,” Holman encourages. “Find some guilty pleasure. Whatever helps you process what you’re learning. Just don’t allow yourself to get isolated and sucked into the news by yourself.”
By making wise decisions about the news we consume, we can stand against injustice and bear witness to those suffering without being swallowed up by trauma in the process.
Read the full article here.
Shrikant, Aditi. “What does watching violence do to your mind? ‘Nothing good’: 5 tips for maintaining your mental health while following the news.” CNBC.com, 13 Oct 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/13/tips-for-following-the-news-while-taking-care-of-your-mental-health.html.