Anti-Aging     

Columbus, Ohio    9-30-05

Why do some people rally to help out with disasters like the Tsunami, Florida hurricanes, Katrina, and Rita, and some feel overwhelmed just hearing about “so many disasters” and try to numb themselves and not feel?  Part of the problem is that TV fosters compassion fatigue.

 The first objective of TV news is to gather as big an audience as possible so they can charge more for advertising. They need to get us to care about news items so we will stay tuned. Thus a child can fall in a well half way across the country or even the world, and TV news tries to make it an event that merits frequent bulletins. Being bombarded with bad news that we can do little about tends to leave people feeling depressed, vulnerable, and powerless.

 When the World Trade Center crumbles on our TV screens, many viewers make a mental “movie” that their mind plays over and over, “vicariously traumatizing” them. Such people are also particularly vulnerable to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) should they experience trauma personally.

 There needs to be a balance between our curiosity and need to know vs. how upsetting seeing or hearing the details are. Just as we need to know our limit with alcohol (and for some people that limit is zero), we need to know our limit for absorbing bad news, especially videos of bad news (as opposed to still pictures, print media, or radio).

 Compassion fatigue is burnout at being overwhelmed by imagining others’ pain and possibly feeling we are not doing enough to help. Setting limits for what we see on TV can be very helpful in preventing us from being overwhelmed and burning out. By remaining resilient, we can keep perspective on what we can do to help and be OK with not individually being able to solve all of the world’s problems.

Dr. Michael Brickey is President of the Ageless Lifestyles Institute and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and just released 52 baby steps to Grow Young. To learn about more about the psychology of being youthful at every age, contact Dr. Brickey at 614-237-4556 or DrBrickey@DrBrickey.com. Also see www.DrBrickey.com

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