A Psychologist Explains How Global Tragedies Trigger ‘Vicarious Trauma'

Just because it didn't happen to you does not mean it won't affect you. 'Vicarious trauma' is real ... More and more common than you realize.
Today, when information is so easily accessible, we're living in an almost 24/7 news cycle. It's more or less normal to be constantly flooded with updates, alerts and breaking stories. Tragedies from across the globe are no longer distant; they appear instantly on your screen, often in graphic and emotionally charged detail.
While staying informed is important, this constant exposure to distressing news can take a real toll on your mental well-being and can even cause you vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is the emotional residue left behind from witnessing trauma secondhand, through stories, images or videos.
It might be impacting you in ways you may not fully notice or be aware of. This lack of awareness often comes from the belief that 'It didn't happen to me, so it shouldn't affect me.'
Even if you're safe at home, watching a tragedy like a plane crash can leave you feeling deeply unsettled. For many, it can spark sudden fears, say, of flying, of losing loved ones or of how fragile life feels. Just seeing the wreckage or watching families grieve can activate your body's stress response and make you feel a sense of helplessness.
You might even start imagining similar scenarios happening to you or your loved ones. This makes it all the more important to understand just how and why global tragedies can impact you so deeply.
Here are two ways global tragedies trigger vicarious trauma, based on research.
It's natural to find yourself watching more news, refreshing headlines, clicking through updates or letting footage auto-play on your feed to stay informed and alert.
While it's both responsible and necessary, what you may not know is that the more time you spend consuming emotionally charged news, the more it can affect your mind and body, sometimes even more than being directly involved in the event itself.
This is backed by research.
Research published in PNAS explored whether watching tragic events through mass media could cause acute stress and how that compared to being directly exposed to the trauma.
To examine this, researchers conducted an Internet-based survey shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings, gathering responses from over 4,600 people across Boston, New York City, and the rest of the U.S. to understand how media exposure influenced stress levels.
They also accounted for factors like people's mental health history, demographics and prior exposure to other collective traumas like 9/11.
Researchers found that people who watched six or more hours of bombing-related news each day showed more signs of acute stress than some of those who were physically at the scene.
This stress was not just about being on screens too much, but rather about the emotional weight of what they were watching.
Even those who had no direct connection to the event felt deeply disturbed. For people who had lived through previous traumatic events, like 9/11 or school shootings, the emotional toll was even greater.
The study shows that mass media can act like an emotional amplifier by spreading the psychological effects of a tragedy far beyond where it happened, turning it into a shared and overwhelming emotional experience.
When distressing news is always just a tap away, it's easy to underestimate the emotional cost of constantly having to stay informed. You might think you're just scrolling or watching passively, but your nervous system doesn't know the difference between watching it and experiencing it in real-time.
This doesn't mean you have to tune out entirely or ignore real-world issues. It's simply a reminder for you to set boundaries around news consumption. Try being mindful of how certain stories make you feel and allow yourself to have the space to step back and regulate when needed.
It's easy to assume that trauma only affects those who live through it firsthand. What you might not know is that repeated exposure to emotionally intense news, even when you're far removed from the actual event, can cause your nervous system to start processing the trauma as if it happened to you.
Over time, this can even lead to PTSD-like symptoms. The trauma may be secondhand, but your mind and body might just respond in very real ways.
This was highlighted in a major study following the 9/11 attacks. Researchers conducted a large-scale, longitudinal study to understand how people across the U.S., even those far from New York City, psychologically adjusted to a national trauma over time.
They used web-based surveys and tracked over 2,700 adults within weeks of the attacks, with follow-ups at two and six months.
There were some notable findings. As many as 17% of participants outside New York reported post-traumatic stress symptoms at two months and roughly 5 % still showed symptoms at six months.
These symptoms weren't only tied to how close someone was to the event but were strongly influenced by personal factors like pre-existing mental health issues and the coping strategies used in the early aftermath.
Researchers also found that people who relied on avoidant coping (like denial or emotional disengagement) were more likely to experience lingering distress, while those who practiced active coping fared better.
These findings suggest that the psychological fallout from large-scale trauma isn't limited to those directly involved, and that how you deal with distress in the moment plays a critical role in how you recover emotionally in the months that follow.
This serves as a powerful reminder that emotional distance does not always protect you from psychological impact, especially in the time of constant media coverage.
As the study highlighted, suppressing emotions may seem like protection in the short term, but it can prolong distress.
Try adopting active coping strategies such as talking to someone, limiting exposure or allowing yourself to process emotions rather than pushing them aside. This can make a meaningful difference in the way you regulate your mental health and stay resilient in the face of overwhelming news.
Vicarious trauma is a reminder that empathy is a double-edged sword. While it connects you to others, it also opens you up to their pain. When you're constantly plugged in, that pain can quietly accumulate without you realizing how much of an impact it has caused.
Being informed is important. But so is protecting your internal world. This means learning when to step back, when to feel and when to talk, as well as when to turn it off. Remind yourself that you're not ignoring what's happening out there; rather, you're just making sure you're okay enough to hold it.
It is possible and necessary to care deeply about what's happening in the world and still care gently for what's happening within you.
Do you find yourself doomscrolling and glued to negative news? Take this science-backed test to find out: Doomscrolling Scale

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