Understanding the Mental Health Effects of Indirect Exposure to Mass Trauma Through the Media

Exposure to mass trauma is common. In the United States, 15% of women and 19% of men have reported lifetime exposure to natural disasters alone. 1 Since the advent of 24-hour television news, exposure to mass violence and natural disasters through the media is even more widespread. Although exposure to trauma has a wide range of psychopathological consequences, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to be the most common.