A Challenging Empirical Question: What are the Effects of Media On Psychogenic Illness during a Community Crisis?

Abstract

Psychogenic illnesses during disaster scan cripple emergency healthcare services. Almost all research into this phenomenon has been retrospective and observational, and much of it suggests that media coverage can amplify psychogenic outbreaks. But there is little empirical evidence that this is true or that, conversely, media reports can mitigate psychogenic symptoms. In their work experimentally inducing psychogenic illness, the authors became sharply aware that it is difficult to experimentally mimic real-time media coverage. Yet clarifying media's effects on psychogenic illness is important if we want to prevent psychological disturbance. To meet this challenge, the authors advocate the funding and development of research protocols in advance of public emergencies, ready to be implemented in realtime. Coupled with digital media, which can track the reading and viewing behavior of millions of people, this approach can help us better understand media's impact on public health during an emergency, for better or for worse. Keywords: Disaster; Mass media; Social medicine; Psychosomatic disorders Psychogenic illness can emerge during unremarkable community events as well as public health disasters. When outbreaks occur, individuals experience symptoms that have no discernible physical cause but that spread as if contagious [1][2][3][4]. Even with minor events, such outbreaks can overburden health services, as medical personnel deal with symptoms and look for organic illness. Worse yet, when outbreaks occur in tandem with a disaster, whether natural or manmade, they can cripple emergency healthcare services, preventing care from being effectively delivered to those in most need. For instance, in 1995, when terrorists released sarin nerve gas in the subways of Tokyo, about 85 percent of the 5,500 people who sought care in hospitals had no actual exposure, but many exhibited symptoms [5].Almost all research into this phenomenon has been observational and anecdotal, and much of it has suggested that media coverage can amplify psychogenic outbreaks. To allow more rigorous investigation, our laboratory has been conducting research to create an experimental analogue. We recently completed experiments to induce psychogenic illness and included media exposure as one of the conditions [6]. Although we were able to demonstrate the social contagion aspect of psychogenic illness, we found no effect due to media exposure. We are aware, however, that the media exposure we used, watching a documentary film, did not fully reflect the real-world experiences of news consumers during a public health emergency. As we wrestled with our study design, we came to realize that creating an experimental condition that mimics real-time media coverage during an emergency is a true challenge. Yet it is important to clarify media's effects on induction of stress and psychogenic illness, so we can understand and learn to mitigate significant psychological disturbance.Many observational studies and commentaries on the consequences of media ...