People Who Viewed the Boston Bombing Are More Likely to Develop Stress Symptoms

Immersing oneself in prolonged media coverage viewing of bombings and shootings can trigger stress, a new study finds.

Researchers from the University of California found a direct link between acute stress symptoms and watching six or more hours a day of news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing a week after it took place. This association seems to hold true especially for people who have previously experienced a traumatic event or among people with a lifetime history is being exposed to traumatic events. People with pre-existing mental conditions were also greatly affected by prolonged viewing.

"We suspect that there's something about repeated exposure to violent images or sounds that keeps traumatic events alive and can prolong the stress response in vulnerable people," said E. Alison Holman, study researchers and an associate professor of nursing at the university. "There is mounting evidence that live and video images of traumatic events can trigger flashbacks and encourage fear conditioning. If repeatedly viewing traumatic images reactivates fear or threat responses in the brain and promotes rumination, there could be serious health consequences."

For their study, the researchers asked 4,500 adults to answer surveys in two to four weeks after the 2013 Boston Marathon. They were also asked if they have had previous experiences of trauma throughout their lives. The researchers found an association between watching six or more hours a day of media coverage about bombing, and being nine times more likely to report various types of stress-related symptoms which include hyper vigilance, intrusive thoughts, feelings of detachment and deliberately avoiding things that may remind you of the incident. The results of their study are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.