Exposure to news and personal stories detailing traumatic events batters our emotional reserves. Whether conversing with a disaster victim or witnessing horrific images on social media or TV, our nervous system kicks in and suddenly, we find ourselves feeling anxious or disgusted or sobbing in disbelief.
Vicarious trauma really is a thing.
My children were quite young during the 9/11 attack. Our family was not in any danger so my goal was to protect them from developing residual anxiety. They didn’t fully understand the scope of the tragedy but knew something bad had occurred. I kept the news off of TV and had conversations about my own concerns only when they were out of earshot. They knew that some parents had rushed to pick up their children from school and had been crying. I offered a brief, matter-of-fact explanation about why school was closed for a few days and explained that sometimes, parents get upset.
It wasn’t so easy for us adults, though. While pretty much every U.S. citizen was horrified by 9/11, I found that clients in my psychotherapy practice were even more troubled if they had a personal history of assault or sudden loss, or the legacy of intergenerational trauma in their family, such as post-traumatic stress disorder from war or Holocaust experiences. Their compassion for the victims evoked memories of their own earlier traumas.
The concept of vicarious trauma was first proposed by researchers Lisa McCann and Laurie Pearlman to describe the emotional toll on psychotherapists who listen to clients retelling traumatic events. Since then, the label has expanded to include trauma’s impact on healthcare workers, paramedics, rescue workers, social workers, and police officers, as well.
Keep in mind, though, that you don’t have to work in a helping profession to feel its effects.
Empathy is the culprit
Our response to another person’s traumatic suffering makes sense; yet our flood of emotions often takes us by surprise. Empathy is to blame. Our capacity for empathy is a necessary and very positive human trait. It guides us to calm a screaming…