Secondary trauma in journalists

It is past one in the morning on the night desk, and the monsoon has turned Karwan Bazar into a river. Faria, 34, the photo editor, has been through four hundred pictures from a launch capsize in the south: life jackets, a child’s sandal, faces she will not put on page one. Dulal bhai, the night peon, sets down her fourth cup of cha and studies her screen sideways.

“Apa, you’ve been looking at the same picture for ten minutes.”

“I’m choosing the one the readers can bear,” she says. “Somebody has to see all of them.”

At home in Rayer Bazar her husband is asleep, and her mother-in-law has left rice under a plate. Faria eats standing up, then lies awake with the sandal in her head. On her day off she snaps at her daughter for splashing in a puddle on the roof, and cannot explain why it frightened her.

An illustration drawn from common experience. The person is invented; the pattern is not.

Understanding secondary trauma in journalists

Secondary trauma is a way of describing harm that comes from meeting other people’s suffering through work, again and again, rather than being in danger yourself. For journalists who handle graphic images it can show as pictures and memories that return uninvited, avoiding reminders, feeling on edge or numb, poor sleep and low mood. When these symptoms are strong and lasting, a doctor will think about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which WHO describes as re-experiencing, avoidance and a heightened sense of threat that cause significant distress or interfere with daily life. Depression and anxiety are considered too.

How common it is

There is no peer-reviewed figure for Bangladeshi newsrooms; the evidence comes from elsewhere. In a study of 116 journalists handling photos and videos sent in by the public at three international news organisations, daily exposure to violent images predicted higher scores for trauma symptoms and depression, and how often they saw such images mattered more than how long. A systematic review of 13 studies found that the journalists most at risk of depressive symptoms had more exposure to trauma at work and in their personal lives, had faced threats, and had less support from family and colleagues.

Signs worth noticing

• Images from work returning at the dinner table or in bed
• Sleeping badly before or after a heavy shift
• Feeling numb about stories that once moved you, or crying at small things
• Irritability with family, or startling at ordinary sounds
• More cigarettes, more cha, more of anything that takes the edge off

How care helps

WHO names trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) as the psychological treatments with the most evidence for PTSD, and evidence-based psychological care as the first choice. A psychiatrist will also look for depression, anxiety, alcohol or sleeping-pill use, and physical causes of poor sleep and tiredness, and talk through what could change at work. Support matters: in a study of 73 journalists at two international news organisations during the pandemic, those who had received counselling reported significantly fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. The study of photo and video editors suggests that seeing graphic material less often may help, though its authors say this still needs to be confirmed.

What getting better can look like

For Faria it might be a rota that keeps her off the disaster desk every night, a few sessions in which the sandal becomes a memory rather than a visitor, and a Friday afternoon watching her daughter jump in puddles on the roof without flinching.

Common questions about secondary trauma in journalists

Can journalists get PTSD from looking at images, without being there?

Studies of newsroom staff who handle graphic photos and videos have found that frequent exposure is linked to higher trauma and depression symptoms. Not everyone who sees such images develops a disorder. Persistent intrusive memories, avoidance and feeling on edge deserve an assessment, and trauma-focused psychological treatment has the most evidence for them.

Is it normal to feel numb after covering disasters?

Feeling flat or distant for a short while after hard work is common. If numbness, poor sleep or low mood last for weeks, or begin to affect family and work, it is worth speaking to a doctor, because depression and PTSD can both start this way and both are treatable.

When to see a psychiatrist

If work images are keeping you awake, changing how you treat the people you love, or making you drink more, please book an appointment. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, call 999 or go to the nearest emergency department now.

Care here is personal: built around your history, your health and what you want to change, and reviewed with you as it goes.

Sources

• Feinstein et al., JRSM Open, 2014 (PMID 25289144)
• MacDonald et al., Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 2021 (PMID 33998329)
• Osmann et al., BMJ Open, 2021 (PMID 34253664)
• WHO, Post-traumatic stress disorder fact sheet, 11 September 2026