TRAUMA, VICARIOUS TRAUMA & PTSD

Let the Dust Settle. By Jackie Botts (Colored pencil and marker on paper) — ***Let the Dust Settle.*** By Jackie Botts (Colored pencil and marker on paper)

Journalism can involve exposure to potentially traumatic events. That exposure may be direct, such as witnessing first hand violence or suffering or being directly attacked in the course of newsgathering – or indirect, such as through viewing graphic images, reporting on traumatic events from the office, or monitoring social media.

Medical professionals say that trauma and traumatic stress affect different people in different ways. Some cope without trouble. Others find trauma distressing but get over it fairly quickly — usually within weeks or a couple of months. A minority, however, will experience more serious physical and psychological distress — sometimes in response to a single overwhelming assignment, sometimes in response to accumulated trauma exposure.

One discussion of trauma and its effects can be found here, in this 5-minute YouTube clip from the London Trauma Specialists.

There are two kinds of trauma that journalists need to be aware of, says the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

“Type One” trauma: A one-off traumatic incident experienced personally, such as a natural disaster, war, an assault or a killing.

“Type Two” trauma: Repeated exposure over time to traumatic experiences or material. Among those we report on, this can include child or sexual abuse, violence, torture, famine, detention, living in a war or an ongoing crisis zone. On the part of journalists, it can include repeated or extended assignments to areas or stories of extreme human distress, or long-term exposure to distressing material.

Trauma can affect those who aren’t directly exposed to traumatic events.

Vicarious trauma can be a different route to symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it’s not a different condition, notes the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. The latest edition (2013) of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) published by the American Psychiatric Association states that professionals such as journalists can develop PTSD from repeated exposure to distressing material via electronic means if it’s part of their job.

Hazel Baker, global head of User-Generated Content news gathering for Reuters, says one obstacle to seeking help is shame. She says her team knows that every day some of their colleagues are in the field, covering difficult and dangerous stories. “The idea that those of us working in comfortable offices may also feel trauma, just through watching these stories unfold on our screens, can seem a trivial risk,” she says. “We encourage all colleagues to seek support, and to feel no shame whatsoever in doing so, if they feel they are experiencing symptoms of vicarious trauma.”

Dart has issued resources for dealing with traumatic imagery here and here.

There are many useful resources to better understand trauma that can arise in a journalistic context. This 22-minute Storyful podcast (signup required) features Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

Reuters journalists can read more about PTSD from this elearning module from CiC. Dart has this information sheet on PTSD.

The following are personal anecdotes from Reuters journalists:

In this 11-minute video available to Reuters journalists, Reuters photographer Leah Millis talks about the vicarious trauma she experienced spending a year with the survivors of mass shootings in the United States and learning how they cope with the deep-rooted trauma they suffered.

Jackie Botts, who worked as a Reuters data journalist in New York: “My brief reporting career has exposed me to tragedy and injustice. At times, the scenes I encounter in my reporting begin to spin around my head, like a tornado capable of pulling even the smallest tasks into its spin. Coping with the things we document is part of the job. For me, the first step is to take a deep breath and let the dust settle.”

Seek help from CiC, a Reuters Peer Supporter, a medical professional or HR if you feel impacted by trauma in your work.

Further PTSD resources:
The Dart Center
The U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs
The Mayo Clinic