Last week, in light of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, my colleague Michelle Brandt wrote a Q&A with Elias Aboujaoude, MD, about grieving in social media. I sent the post to Keith Humphreys, PhD, who is also a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the School of Medicine, and invited his thoughts. Over at The Reality Based Community, he wrote in part:
Among his points is that because almost every significant event is recorded and turned into web images and videos, we are repeatedly exposed to traumatic, sad and fear-inducing events whether we wish to be or not. Elias notes that such exposure can be helpful in some cases but hazardous in others. My experience working with patients who have anxiety disorders leads me to think the critical variable is the amount of control experienced by the person who is being exposed to what upsets them.
I recommend reading the rest of the post for his conclusions.
Previously: 9/11: Grieving in the age of social media
