Four Tips for Coping after Witnessing Anti-Asian Violence
By Angela Gwak, PhD
Witnessing Anti-Asian violence
Violence against Asian Americans has exponentially increased over the past few years. Shocking news reports and social media images of Asian American individuals being brutally murdered at spas, fatally pushed unto subway tracks, beaten, stalked, punched, and stabbed to death, have shaken many of us to the core. While racism against people of Asian descent in the US has always existed, it is now being given more consistent attention from major media outlets. Despite the horror, it’s also been an empowering experience to witness our communities rallying together against injustice. Nevertheless, the suffering continues. These crimes have been mostly reported as events of mere happenstance that occurred due to an individual’s “bad day” and not real hate crimes that were racially motivated. Regardless of these silencing and negating narratives, the truth of the matter is that our bodies, souls, and minds are repeatedly bombarded with images of these tragedies through recent news and social media. As a result, we are left with a host of lingering negative thoughts and emotions.
Can I experience trauma “second-hand”? What is vicarious trauma?
As a multiculturally responsive psychologist with extensive training in trauma, I’ve often wondered whether people recognize that viewing such crimes on screens can damage psychological wellbeing through what is known as vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is defined as a form of emotional, physical, or mental distress that can occur after an individual witnesses or is subjected to explicit knowledge of a tragic or extremely distressing event (Lerias & Byrne, 2003). This traumatization can also occur via news coverage and social media. The effects can vary greatly and be quite significant in certain circumstances. For some individuals, vicarious trauma can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can include symptoms such as intrusive thoughts or memories related to the traumatic event, avoidance of any reminders related to the event, negative changes in mood or cognition, and negative physiological or arousal responses (e.g. increased heart palpitation, startle response, etc.). For others, the PTSD symptoms related to the vicarious trauma may be milder in intensity and frequency (Ben-Zur, Gil, & Shamshins, 2012).
Signs of vicarious trauma
Although the following is not an exhaustive list and should not be used to make formal diagnoses, you may ask yourselves a few questions to see if you have been experiencing some effects of vicarious trauma.
Have you been exposed to violent or distressing media stories and images of crimes committed against individuals of your own ethnic group, which felt more personal? Have you heard of or know someone that has been subjected to such tragic events?
Do these images or stories keep popping into your head? Have you been stewing on these events? Have you had distressing dreams about them?
Do you have second thoughts and/or avoid venturing out to certain areas that you frequently visited before, due to an increased sense of dangerousness? Have you actively tried to avoid talking and thinking about distressing events or any reminders of them?
Are you more worried or anxious about the safety of your loved ones since the events (e.g. when they are taking the subway or out in the neighborhood at certain times of the day)? Have you been experiencing increased emotional distress (e.g. feelings of anger, irritability, anxiety) or what may feel like the opposite (e.g., numbness, helplessness, despair, low mood, lack of interest, lethargy, etc) since learning of these tragic events?
Do you look over your shoulder multiple times and scan your surroundings (e.g. being hyperaware of people around you or where you are standing on the subway platform)? Do you get startled more easily or notice your heart beating faster? Do you have restless sleep or difficulty falling or staying asleep since the reports of these distressing events?
If some of these descriptions or experiences resonated with you then you may be dealing with some signs of vicarious trauma. I do want to emphasize that experiencing some of these symptoms at some point in your life is incredibly common and expected. Within the context of our broken societal systems, it would be actually remarkable for us to never experience any of the above. However, if these experiences are continuous, accumulating, or weighing on you, they should not be ignored. Of note, the effects of vicarious traumatization may be especially heightened for those who have had personal trauma in the past (Resick, 2000) or have struggled with anxiety, difficult life changes, or have minimal social support (Lerias & Byrne, 2003). What is important to remember is that there are ways to cope with vicarious trauma.
4 tips for coping with the effects of vicarious trauma
Validate your truth.
Instead of reinforcing the idea that our lived experiences are inconsequential, we can validate our truth that vicarious trauma as a result of witnessing hate crimes is real. Our feelings related to these incidents are absolutely valid. And our voices and lives equally matter as much as anybody’s on this planet.
Seek empowering individuals and communities.
Sharing our reactions to traumatic events with family members and friends who can provide positive support is invaluable. We will often find that we are not alone in this experience. In addition, joining in-person or online communities that provide helpful resources and solidarity against hate crimes can be empowering and provide real-time opportunities to check in on each other about symptoms of vicarious trauma so they do not build over time.
Engage in self-care.
Self-care can take many forms that help us nourish our bodies, souls, and minds with positivity and strength. Not that we need to close our eyes to what is happening around us but we can choose to set healthy limits around the amount of daily exposure we have to distressing media content. Additionally, participating in meaningful activities can help channel our energy into positive and productive outlets, such as engaging in hobbies, practicing mindfulness breathing exercises, meditating, walking, and exercising.
Take advantage of therapy.
Therapy for trauma and PTSD can be a safe space to heal from our difficult experiences with trained professionals. You may not automatically consider talking about the personal effect of the news in a therapy session. However, therapy can help us tackle our unhelpful emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that keep us stuck whenever we are triggered by difficult events. Additionally, therapy can equip us with tools to not only better recognize signs of distress but also to learn skills to effectively cope with life’s challenges.
Seek multiculturally considerate mental healthcare
One of the factors known to aggravate vicarious traumatization over time is avoidance. For example, we might avoid fully processing our thoughts and emotions in healthy ways in safe spaces with trusted individuals. Therapy can be that safe space. Unfortunately, Asian Americans tend to underutilize, delay, or downplay the necessity of utilizing mental health services. This is often due to cultural stigma around mental health, but is also influenced by the lack of culturally sensitive services available (Sue et al., 2019). As such, seeking seasoned providers who have been specifically trained in multiculturally responsive treatment (and not just nominally “multicultural”) would be key to a successful experience in therapy. If you have the desire to make positive changes in your life, there are competent multiculturally trained psychologists at Manhattan Therapy Collective who can assist you to move towards growth and healing.
About the Author: Dr. Angela Gwak is a post-doctoral fellow and psychologist with over a decade of clinical experience. She is passionate about using her expertise to walk alongside fellow individuals of marginalized identities and fight against the toxic psychological effects of injustice.
Citations:
Ben-Zur, H., Gil, S., & Shamshins, Y. (2012). The relationship between exposure to terror through the media, coping strategies and resources, and distress and secondary traumatization. International Journal of Stress Management, 19(2), 132.
Lerias, D., & Byrne, M. K. (2003). Vicarious traumatization: Symptoms and predictors. Stress and Health: Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress, 19(3), 129-138.
Resick, P. (2000). Stress and Trauma. Psychology Press: Hove, UK
Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., & Smith, L. (2019). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.