• Home
• /
• UAE
• /
• Healthcare

Exposure to media violence can lead to disorders

This raises an important question: At a time when tragic occurrences can be heard or seen 24/7, what's all this negative news doing to our brain?

I can't remember the last time I scrolled through my social media feeds and wasn't inundated with disturbing content of one form or another. Each time, heavy hitting emotions ranging from shock, outrage to confusion about how we allow such atrocities to exist envelope my heart and mind. War stories and wedding parties juxtaposed along side each other and as our psychological faculties swing between despair and delight, its no wonder many feel emotionally bankrupt and empty, sometimes without even realising the root cause of what might be draining them. This raises an important question: At a time when tragic occurrences can be heard or seen 24/7, what's all this negative news doing to our brain?
Dr. Graham Davey, who specialises in the psychological effects of media violence, suggests that prolonged exposure can exacerbate or contribute to the development of stress, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Dr. Mary McNaughton-Cassill goes on to explain that bad news won't actually give you anxiety disorder or depression if you weren't already predisposed toward these conditions but reading, hearing and watching the worst aspects of humanity throughout the day can have subtler, yet still unpleasant effects on our emotional and physical well-being. Studies have found that viewers struggle with feelings of despondency and apathy about the world, thinking that a significant part of our existence is uncontrollable and unpredictable. So we live in a state of heightened anxiety, waiting for the worst to happen.
"When our brain perceives a threatening situation, our bodies begin to produce stress hormones that enter the brain and may modulate memories of stressful or negative events," Sonia Lupien, director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress in Montreal explains.
"Negative news can alter individual's mood, especially if there is a tendency in the news broadcasts to emphasize suffering and also the emotional components of the story," Dr. Davey says. "In particular, negative news can affect your own personal worries. Viewing negative news means that you're likely to see your own personal worries as more threatening and severe."
The researchers found that over time, this exposure can cause a process of either sensitization, in which individuals becomes more sensitive to emotional distress when viewing such images, or desensitization which is a sort of numbing process in which individuals become habituated to what they see. Eventually, desensitization causes the brain to react less emotionally to distressing triggers so we become more cold and less caring
A third possible reaction is where the viewer represses feelings of sadness, guilt and disgust because they feel helpless and unable to find an outlet for the wave of emotions that crash down on them. When frustration, for example, is suppressed, it doesn't just disappear. Instead, this unexpressed rage turns toxic, damaging both our health.