The effects of Witnessing Online Traumatic Events and What To Do About It.

In the age of social media, it's not uncommon for people to witness traumatic events happening on their computer screens. More and more studies are showing that online trauma can have serious effects on both mental and physical health. In this post, we discuss what vicarious trauma is, how it affects your mind and body, and how you can avoid becoming a victim of vicarious trauma yourself.

First, let's define what we are talking about. Vicarious trauma is the reaction to witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event happening to another person. It can be triggered by watching, reading about, listening to, or any other indirect experience of a potentially traumatizing situation.

As with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), vicarious trauma has three stages: First, mental images and memories. Next, emotional reactions to those memories and mental images. Last, physical responses.

The first stage is when the event or trauma affects your thoughts about yourself as a person. You may start feeling more sensitive or vulnerable in general because of what you have witnessed (i.e., "I am not safe"). These memories can become filters through which you begin to think about yourself.

The second stage is an emotional reaction where you are faced with strong feelings that don't go away easily after witnessing something traumatic happen to someone else - usually negative emotions such as sadness, anger at injustice/cruelty, fearfulness for oneself or others around them. In this second phase, it can be very hard to concentrate on anything but upsetting thoughts from what was seen or heard; one might feel numb inside except for occasional flashes of rage that they might not even know how to explain.

The third stage is a physical reaction where the body begins to have reactions in response to the anxiety - such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, jumpiness when hearing noises or feeling tense. Physical ailments are not uncommon either, like gastrointestinal issues, headaches, etc.

It is important to remember to be kind to yourself. An emotional response can happen at any time - even weeks after witnessing something traumatic online. Symptoms of this might include sudden anger or sadness, fearfulness/agitation, anxiety (especially if reminders from what they saw are still present), trouble sleeping well and nightmares, irritability or angry outbursts with little provocation.

There are several ways to avoid being a victim of vicarious trauma. Health professionals recommend avoiding the content. If you are unable to avoid it, limit your exposure by not watching or reading any more than necessary and take breaks in between sessions of viewing traumatic events online.

Talk about it with someone- a friend, family member or mental health professional. This will help you process your thoughts and feelings related to the traumatic event you witnessed online.

Be mindful and take regular breaks from social media and the online world. If you find yourself going down a 'rabbit hole' that you know could affect you emotionally, you may want to consider temporarily taking a break from social media. Even delete your account for a while. Remember, this is your mental health we talking about.

Remove all digital devices from your bedroom. Instead of the temptation to go to bed with the glowing light in your eyes as you scroll into oblivion, read a book. This will also remove the habit of immediately checking and scrolling when you wake up first thing.

In this day and age it's hard to avoid witnessing upsetting online content but with some thoughtfulness and self-awareness, we can know when enough is enough.