Click here to read a text only version of Dr. Crawford's article

Is TV Coverage of Carnage Bad for Your Health?
Jean Lawrence, Medical Writer

Sept. 17 (Medscape Health) Did you ever stop to imagine what a different--and far scarier--crisis September 11th might have been without the uninterrupted flow of information from the TV, newspapers, and the Internet? Yet television, in particular, say the experts, is such an immediate and powerful source of images and scenarios that it has the very real potential to overwhelm viewers and prevent more positive actions and reactions.

"I think it is very forward-thinking . . . to ask when enough is enough," says Bill Crawford, Ph.D., a psychologist and corporate trainer and author of All Stressed Up and Nowhere to Go. "Although I feel the coverage has been very good and I much appreciated the attempts to qualify unconfirmed stories, we must realize that the goal of television is to transmit information, not to alleviate fears."

Garth Jowett, director of the School of Communication at the University of Houston, disagrees with that. "The more information provided, the more fear is alleviated," he insists. "This is called 'uncertainty reduction' in the trade."

When we see images such as the second aircraft slicing into Tower 2, Crawford maintains, it creates an actual change in our bodies--a cascade of chemicals that gird the body to either fight or flee. "This was great for those actually in New York who needed to physically run," he says, "but if we are watching it over and over, we get the same chemicals and get all hyped up with no outlet."

Jowett agrees. "There is a time you need to turn it off," he says. "I would say that was 2 or 3 days for most people. It's different for every person."

Guilt's Role
"I was stranded in Atlanta," says Marjorie Brody, MA, president of Brody Communications Ltd., in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and author (with Pamela J. Holland) of Help! Was That a Career Limiting Move? "All I did was watch TV and cry. Early on, I think that was a good thing. We needed that connectedness. To pretend life has gone back to normal is ridiculous."

Brody said she felt guilty not watching. "You think, 'How can I not watch? How could I do anything else? Everything I am doing is so insignificant.'"

According to Jowett, she is talking about a phenomenon called "narcotizing dysfunction," in which people get a sense of participating in a real event just by watching it on television. "There is a notion you are helping by watching," he says, adding that this applies less to this event and more to documentaries about famines that make people think they are helping merely by being a witness.

Brody is not cracking the whip in her company. "People need to do what they have to do," she says. TVs are on; people check the Internet. This is particularly important with this crisis, she says, because it may not be over. It's common sense and prudent to see if there are new developments.

Brody also wrote emails to all her clients, touching base. As a corporate trainer, she urges companies to do that. "Let people know you are thinking of them," she says.

Crawford recommends organized activities, such as office lunches, that provide a chance to talk and a sense of connectedness and community. "If you hear a company president on TV saying, 'We can't find 600 of our people,'" Crawford says, 'don't try to imagine what that would be like in your office. It serves no purpose.'"

Watch on Controlled Basis
Crawford recommends watching TV on a controlled basis. "How many times do you need to hear that woman yell, 'Oh, my God'?" he asks. "It tightens your chest. This isn't good over and over." Watch TV for information, Crawford urges. "Check a few times a day in case something happened. Say to yourself, 'I am going to let the newspaper catch me up, or the Internet.' Make a purposeful choice. Watching the same images over and over creates bad feelings with nothing to do about them."

In time, Brody says, regular programming will return in TV. But Brody cautions, don't be too quick to try to go back to normal. For one thing, the country will be at war or on a war footing: The news is not going to stop and it's not going to get better.

"Do what you can in small ways. Americans are doers. They like to find something to do," Brody says. Adds Crawford, "When you are watching TV, what are you not doing? You may not be exercising, you may not be working on a creative project."

In some ways, Brody says, TV has made us feel more connected as a people and with the whole event, which may be the most important of our lives. But TV, she says, is draining. "It sucks everyone from you but pure emotion. Getting away from it sometimes is probably healthier. Don't beat yourself up with guilt."

Remember, the powers that be in the country used to keep events like this--at least the horrific images--from the American people. "Those films of the Japanese 'Zeroes' coming in and the ships burning at Pearl Harbor," Jowett says--"the American people never saw those until much later. The leaders thought it would hurt morale."

Now they know we can handle the truth.