Vicarious Trauma: A Trauma Shared

From violent scenes depicted through conduits like the Internet, movies, news, or social media, to the traumatic experiences related to us by friends, co-workers, and family, such experiences can alter us psychologically. Perhaps you are reading this now because someone told you something disturbing, or you saw something that you cannot shake from your memory. What may surprise you is that such secondary exposure can have similar effects to directly experienced trauma, and in some cases, even more so. This phenomenon is known as “vicarious trauma" (VT) and it may be what you are experiencing now.

Social media and violence

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Without a doubt, trauma is a pervasive element of our existence. Many individuals may experience trauma as physical, emotional, or both. Trauma is our emotional reaction to impactful events such as life-threatening accidents, violent encounters, or socio-environmental disasters, according to the American Psychological Association. Such events confront our mortality and usher in dramatic emotional responses that can range from self-denial to unpredictable mood swings, flashbacks, and other manifested physical symptomology.

Vtrauma

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The Emergence of a New Type of Trauma

In the early 2000s, the term “vicarious” was not commonly used but was mentioned as part of the long-term sequelae of therapists’ exposure to their clients' traumatic stories. At that time, I conducted one of the first studies to investigate the possibility of the existence of vicarious trauma in the general populace (Luster, 2005). The results of the pilot study revealed the presence of vicarious trauma in general populations outside of health care. This was just a few years after 9/11. My curiosity began with 9/11 because the carnage was electronically transmitted live, as the disturbing events were occurring in unvarnished reality (Fung, 2021).

Vicarious trauma (VT) is defined as unfavorable changes, both affective and cognitive, resulting from exposure to second-hand traumatic material. (Jimenez et al., 2021b)

What We Know About Vicarious Trauma

Today, with the increase of events from the onset of a pandemic, violence amidst social unrest, policing issues, road rage, airplane violence, and other various “wilding” behaviors, more people are exposed to second-hand accounts of these things. The influence of a ubiquitous social media presence has allowed people to record traumatic experiences as they are happening and share them. As well, co-workers, friends, family, and strangers may share disturbing stories that also stir uneasy feelings. We become hypervigilant to others' traumatic material often without ever knowing what has happened. As a result, we live with fears and avoid situations and certain places, but we have no deeper understanding as to why we alter the course of our lives this way.

Through research in neurobiological science, evidence demonstrates that when trauma is survived, the brain, as well as the body, holds traces of the experience (van der Kolk, 2015). More notably, with VT, researchers have found that such somatic and emotional artifacts (the memories shared by another source) can also imprint on the brain and body of the receiver (the person second-handedly seeing or hearing the account), much like first-hand trauma (Drapeau et al., 2022).

Symptoms of Vicarious Trauma

Because the majority of literature concerns, to a great extent, the symptomology of clinicians working with people, I want to extend the same fidelity to symptomology that invariably carries across the general population at large (Suo et al., 2022). And, although empathy is implicated, anomalies aside, it is hard not to empathize by virtue of our human-ness in some fashion when we see others hurt or hear about it. However, here are a few of the symptoms associated with vicariously seeing or hearing other’s traumata from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition:

• Avoidance of situations, places, things
• Bad dreams
• Hypervigilant states
• Safety fears
• Grief
• Anxiety
• Sadness
• Irritability
• Morbid pre-occupation (e.g., doomscrolling)
• Loss of hope
• Decreased sense of purpose
• Physiological symptoms such as headaches, heartburn, and ulcers (Jimenez et al., 2021)

3 Ways to Address Vicarious Trauma

Mindful

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1. Getting rid of the negative energy

When we feel the things associated with VT, we need to release that negative energy from our body and mind. Engaging in some form of physical activity like running, swimming, yoga, or walking can help to immediately shake out the adrenaline effect. But you can also engage response art, music, or writing, which have all been shown to dilute the intensity of VT, as well as transform such emotions (Drapeau et al., 2022b).

2. Becoming mindful of what you are taking in

Try reflectively examining what you have been “orienting” to lately. Orienting is based on what we are preoccupied with and tend to focus on, and VT can influence that response.

We can learn to re-orient by “choosing” what we focus on rather than allowing our habits or curiosity to push us into darker places. (Ogden and Fisher, 2015)

Trauma Essential Reads

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Talking It Out: Psychological Debriefing After Trauma

People tend to reflexively orient to past experiences, mostly in the hopes of being better equipped to protect themselves. But this kind of reflexive orienting can interfere with your health, promoting ruminating and worry. Such defensive coping literally reminds us to keep our eyes on the doom and gloom of things (e.g., “doomscrolling”).

Learning to re-orient away from the things that might continue to effect or invoke VT is important. Instead of being drawn to social media sites with morbidly intrusive content, focus on things that bring you back to healthier perspectives like reading fiction, art, or a mindful walk. Your goal is to always focus on distinguishing things that are healthy for you, and, by doing so, you build competence in your ability to selectively choose the things to take in daily.

3. Building healthy practices

Engage in mindful practices before starting your day. Practicing meditation is a great way to down-regulate emotional content. As well, self-talk during your encounters in the day can be helpful. Simple ways to reassure yourself that you are safe and will be OK can be effective.

Vicarious trauma is a topic that needs more attention, especially as the general public encounters more steady streams of stimuli capable of invoking VT. By being mindful, we can learn to build our emotional competence as we approach such challenges.