Trauma-Informed Social Media

Exposure to other people’s suffering can have negative effects on all of us. Various studies have documented the negative psychological reactions following indirect exposure to traumatized people called vicarious traumatization.

What is Vicarious Trauma?

Vicarious trauma is something that might not have directly happened to the individual, but seeing it repeatedly has a negative effect on the person’s mind and/or body.

Vicarious trauma occurs when an individual hearing and watching others experience trauma may become overwhelmed and lead them to experience, to a lesser extent, the same feelings faced by the trauma survivors. An example would be a youth seeing a school shooting being covered consistently on the news. This continuous exposure to the coverage has the potential to cause the youth to become afraid to go to school, in fear that it might happen to them.

How has social media played a role?

Social media has enabled violent stories and graphic images to be watched by the Republic in unedited detail, and it can greatly affect our psyche and emotional well-being. Watching these events and feeling the anguish of those directly experiencing them have an impact on our daily lives.

How do you know when you are experiencing vicarious trauma through social media?

Below are some signs that might be related to you being affected by vicarious trauma. These are just some possible signs to help with understanding.

EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS:  lasting feelings of grief, anxiety, or sadness, irritability or anger, experience changes in mood or sense of humor, negativity, and feeling generally unsafe.

BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS: isolation, increase in alcohol or substance consumption, altered eating habits, and difficulty sleeping, risky behavior and avoiding people or tasks, difficulty separating work and personal life, and increasing their workload.

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS: headaches, rashes, ulcers, or heartburn.

SPIRITUAL SYMPTOMS: loss of hope, a decreased sense of purpose, and feelings of disconnect from others and the world in general.

How do you prevent vicarious trauma?

With increased access to social media and the internet via tablets and smartphones, we need to ensure that people are aware of the risks of viewing these images and that appropriate support is available for those who need it. There are also ways to prevent vicarious trauma through social media by monitoring your intake. Reducing the amount of time spent on social media helps a lot, but even just turning off your notifications can be a simple yet effective tool in digital self-care. Also monitoring and filtering who you are following and the content being posted to the pages you follow is important to make sure you aren’t exposing yourself to media that will cause vicarious trauma. Lastly, give yourself designated times to look at social media.

Youth and Social Media

Regarding youth and social media, it is very important to monitor your child’s usage and what content they are being exposed to. Set screen time limits and set rules on when devices are appropriate to use. Downloading apps like Norton and TeenSafe can be helpful in order to monitor your teen’s activity on a phone. Doing this allows you to set phone time limits and filter web content coming in with ease. Teach your child the value of “unplugging” from devices for the technology-free time. Social media can be exciting, but it should be considered entertainment. Remind your child that no message is so important that it can’t wait until the morning. Something you can do is have rules that phones are left in the kitchen to charge overnight. This will show youth that you are willing to disconnect with them and allows them to get a goodnight’s sleep without having the urge to check their phones or waking up to notifications. Also, discuss what’s okay and safe to post online and what isn’t. Online posts stay online forever. As a general rule, your child shouldn’t post anything they wouldn’t want a parent or teacher to see or read. Model good behavior on your own social media accounts to set an example.

How can you help make a difference?

Another aspect that you should think about is how you might be affecting other people with what you are posting? Since social media is the way to communicate and get information out there, there are some questions you can ask yourself before posting to ensure you are being trauma-informed.

  • Could it possibly trigger someone in a negative way?

  • Does it have something to do with drugs, alcohol, violence, etc.?

  • Is it graphic or show others in some type of distress?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, possibly think about putting a warning before the picture or content that you are sharing. Warning people will help them to choose to continue looking or reading the content or just scroll past.

Remember and think about the people you have following you (youth, veterans, victims of domestic violence, etc.) so that you can be sure you are not affecting them in a negative way.