Why Can’t We Stop Watching Images of Violence?

Violence news we encounter on social media platforms in Turkey; such as unemployment and traffic a social problem turns into. When you enter platforms such as Twitter, you are likely to be exposed to images of violence that you will not forget for the rest of your life.

According to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics, by the age of 18 each individual spends approximately time on television alone. 200,000 acts of violence is witnessing. If we add social media platforms to these, this number will perhaps double. When we come across these news of violence, let’s look at what we can do to reduce their effects on our mental health.

Violence is reproduced over and over again in print and social media.

When making news is not to draw a picture of an event, but to reconstruct it officially, every individual who shares it by adding something resharing it. So why do we show so much interest in watching violence and not hesitate to share it?

Some of us may say that they follow it because they want to raise awareness about violence and not to stay away from the agenda, but experts can say that this is also an issue. addiction dimension says it is. In other words, you may actually have an addiction, such as watching violent videos.

A mass consuming violence has existed in every era.

The fact that the Egyptians represented the murder of their god Osiris as a play in 2000 BC shows that there were people who were interested in violence and enjoyed watching it in those years.

A similar situation took place in the famous arenas around 400 AD. While people are being torn to pieces by lions At that time, drinks were being drunk in the stands, especially in the tribune of honor.

In the Middle Ages people witch burning ceremonies They did. Many people living in that place witnessed and watched these ceremonies. Even if you think that this was done to discourage people from these actions by creating a culture of fear, those people preferred to quit their jobs and be there themselves.

Paris in the 19th century opening of the morgue another example. Sources indicate that people lined up early in the morning to see a dead body in the morgue. Since there are records about this, there may have been different morgue exhibits that we did not hear about, although we knew about it.

When we look at the way the news of the execution was presented, it was told how the criminal was taken from his cell, what he did that day, how and where the gallows was erected, how many hours before the people came to that area to see how the execution took place. In fact, how a person who died by hanging died, what the people watching the event were talking about, and even to explain this situation of people. “it’s free entertainment” Expressions like these were commonly found in the details of the news.

In fact, we can say that not much has changed today. Most watched videos, movies, series There are those who contain the element of violence.

There are also those who think that showing interest in violence may be a result of the nomadic culture.

Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Turkish cultures in the Ural Altaic language family were places where nomadic life was very influential. One of the most basic behaviors for nomadic life is get a gun. According to this theory, we may have settled down, but we pass on the nomadic life culture for generations. That’s why we take an interest in violence and don’t hesitate to share it.

As Ece Ayhan said, “every person living in an evil society becomes a little evil”.

social learning, in all areas of life. The small gets up and looks at the big. One of the most commonly bought gifts for boys is guns and toys related to it. According to this theory, if what you see from your parents is praising violence, if what you watch in movies is violence, if people you love and respect share violence, you care about violence and share it. In other words, it is possible that there is both learning and sharing violence becoming fashionable.

Things that disrupt the routine attract attention, and violence may also attract attention because it is one of the events that disrupt the routine.

According to this theory, while we live similar lives and have a routine, the things we witness on social media lead us to this. out of routine life, It allows us to experience different things. It shows us different images, makes us read different lives. These different things often turn into violence.

We may like to share violence on social media because we can safely experience violence.

Even if we don’t want to witness violent non-repetitive events, we are interested. We wonder how it happened. This may be the reason why we can’t help but watch the event in front of a screen, away from that violence.

It may also be because we can say what lives there are!

Since the day humanity existed, stories and epics have been written and these have been transferred from language to language. Wars, heroes and adventures were told in these stories. The current version is third page murder news. In other words, experts point out that one of the reasons we share them on social media is to be able to say ‘what a life there are, let’s be thankful for what we are’.

Maybe we’ve just become desensitized to violence!

In another existing theory, the presence of violence even in the content made against violence is a factor against violence. desensitization and ignorance he has brought. Especially heavy violence content is thought to normalize violence in viewers/readers. Therefore, no hesitation is felt when sharing violence.

When we encounter violence, this violent content to impress us Let’s be aware that this has been made.

In this part of the article, we have explained why we love violence and why we do not hesitate to share it on social media. After that, we will explain the possibility of watching violence create trauma for us and what to do if this happens.

Studies have found that those who watch violence over and over again are 9 times more likely to experience trauma from the news. After watching the news post traumatic stress disorder If you think your symptoms are developing, follow the steps below. These symptoms may be recurring images, worrying about experiencing the same things, and finding yourself thinking about them when you don’t want to.

The first thing we have to do is to increase our awareness of the news. In other words, to be aware that that news is re-edited and stamped to affect us. What happened may not be real. While it is real, it may not be lived that way; to be conscious of them. In short, to have information about media literacy.

Second thing to consider we can’t do anything about it. So to look at what we can do to rectify this existing violence situation. To be more careful before watching any news on the channel/account where we see that news again. If we can’t handle the news of severe violence, not watching it, not reading it when we see it. Because nothing is more important than our psychology.

Despite all this, if we are still under the influence of the news and cannot get rid of it, then we should seek help from mental health professionals.