Portraying of violence via mass media including has long been a topic for debate because it is believed to have detrimental effects on the minds of the young viewers. The younger the audience, the higher the probability that such displayed acts of violence circulated by the media, may internalize the violence into their sub-conscious minds.
Another popular point of argument relates to the extent media outlets should exercise self-censorship of their published contents, also for the mental health of the young viewers. For example, Google has a service agreement via YouTube, which gives them the right to delete any content that is deemed violent or gory, especially to the very young viewers.
The most recent gory video that was widely circulated online was that showing the burning to death of Jordanian Pilot, Lt. Moaz by ISIS. Several criticisms targeted towards the media arose afterwards, condemning those who included the harrowing video on their platforms. One of such group of people that reacted to this were
qualified healthcare professionals that left several comments on the “Psychiatric Times” blog to share their views on how aghast they were at this public “showing” of such mentally detrimental pictures.
Read some of their comments below:
“Some unwary viewers lured into watching the ISIS’ video of a Jordanian pilot’s immolation on mainstream television, social media, or ‘dark’ websites will inevitably suffer post-traumatic pathology. Young and psychologically fragile individuals will be the most vulnerable. It is impossible to gauge their number, nor the extent or duration of their psychological wounds,” said Harvey Roy Greenberg, MD.
“While traveling recently, I met a young man who told me he had been traumatized by witnessing an ISIL video of a hostage being beheaded. He could not get the image out of his head and wished he had never watched it. I believe he was not alone. No such videos or photos should ever be shown,” said Elizabeth @ Sat, 2015-02-07 19:25
“Clinical psychopaths are developed from a combination of genetic and environmental effects. The environmental effects include exposure to sexually and physically violent scenarios, usually from a very young age. Yes, indeed, such explicit and uncensored material could have profound psychological effects on those with the right
genetic vulnerabilities,” said Sharon @ Fri, 2015-02-13 12:06
Click HERE to read more comments and let us know your thoughts on this issue!
