Watching television on September 11 could seriously damage your health.
That is the warning emerging from two recent scientific studies which explore the possible link between repeated exposure to graphic television images of last year’s attacks on the United States and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Both studies point to a correlation between the prevalence of PTSD or depression and the amount of time spent watching television coverage during and immediately after the attacks.
They also suggest that families — especially those directly affected by the attacks — should exercise caution concerning the blanket television coverage planned for the first anniversary of the September 11 strikes.
The first study, published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was based on a Web-based survey of 2 273 Americans across the country.
”We found a statistically significant association between PTSD symptom levels and the number of hours per day of TV coverage of the attacks that were watched,” said the study’s lead author, William Schlenger.
”The associations could be an indication that exposure via TV contributed to the development of the symptoms,” Schlenger said.
Television footage of the events of September 11 included many vivid and disturbing images, including those of the hijacked planes slamming into the World Trade Center, of people jumping or falling from the buildings and of the twin towers eventually collapsing.
Those images were replayed again and again in the days and weeks that followed and are almost sure to be aired once more during the anniversary.
A separate and soon to be published study conducted by the New York Academy of Medicine contains evidence that corroborates some of Schlenger’s findings, according to its lead author, Sandro Galea.
”The evidence suggests that exposure to the events of September 11 through the media may have been sufficient for some people to develop significant mental health problems,” Galea told AFP.
The link was particularly prevalent among those directly affected by the attacks, such as people who lost friends or relatives, said Galea, who added a warning note ahead of the anniversary.
”While this evidence is still in its infancy, it suggests people who were directly affected should be careful about watching repeated showings of these images,” he said.
Experts have suggested that young children are especially at risk, as they often find it difficult to differentiate between television file footage and new events.
The warnings are being taken seriously by the authorities. ”Project Liberty,” a free counselling service administered by the New York State Office of Mental Health, has issued guidelines on how best to navigate the television coverage of the anniversary.
”Some of this coverage may describe intense scenes and sounds from the disaster,” a Project Liberty press statement said.
”With repeated exposure to such coverage, some people may have a recurrence of symptoms they previously experienced following the event –they may have trouble falling asleep, may retain images of the program just viewed or may have difficulty concentrating.”
The statement suggested that adults watch September 11-angled programmes with family or friends, rather than alone, and warned parents that young children could react with ”fear and anxiety.”
US television networks have pledged to tread very carefully with their anniversary programming, and NBC has even brought in a child psychiatrist to advise producers and anchors on a range of issues.
Marcy McGinnis, senior vice president at CBS News, said there was a broad consensus in the industry to avoid using graphic images as ratings grabs.
”We’re not sitting here saying, ‘Let’s play the tape of the plane going into the building more times because more people will watch,”’ McGinnis said.
Still, for a number of New Yorkers, deciding what programmes to watch is not even an issue.
”I haven’t decided exactly what I will do on September 11, but the one thing I do know is that the television is staying off,” said artist Ethel Lebenkoff. – Sapa-AFP