Are You Addicted To Trauma Porn?

For some, the fascination is real.

I grew up with Disney Channel and Nickelodeon on my television and watched them, probably, far too long. So, when I heard that former child stars from these shows, such as Jennette McCurdy, were speaking out about *not-so-nice* experiences they had while filming, I was immediately enthralled and wanted to know more.

I scrolled across a TikTok clip of Zoey 101 star Alexa Nikolas opening up about her traumatic time while being on the show, which she left after two seasons. I swiftly found the podcast she was speaking on and set in for a listen.

During her chat on the Vulnerable podcast hosted by Christy Carlson Romano (who you may know from Even Stephens on the Disney Channel) the two began to relate over wild questions and conspiracy theories they get asked about their experiences. They shared that when these stories circulate, although they might be entertaining for some, they can actually do more harm than good.

Alexis explained, “Those conspiracies most of the time end up blocking the truth because it gets so far over there that people can’t really fully grasp the reality of it.”

From here, the topic of ‘trauma porn’ was mentioned, with a reference to another episode of the podcast featuring former Disney star Alyson Stoner. Christy explained, “It’s this whole thing of trauma porn. It’s like ‘tell me how you were abused’. And I remember Alyson Stoner coming on and talking to me about trauma porn, she’s like ‘look I don’t want to talk about how I was this, or that or whatever happened to me, I just want to talk about advocacy.’ And she blew my mind with that.”

This conversation struck me because I knew exactly what they meant by it. As a society we love a good terrible story. I thought about why I was listening to the podcast in the first place, was I contributing to it, or was I consuming it for the right reasons?

I thought of the true crime documentaries people are obsessed with, the harsher the better in some cases, right? We want to know the ins and outs and the nitty gritty details as if we are the detectives ourselves. But at what point does it become less about the cautionary tale, and more about the entertainment because it wasn’t you it happened to?

 

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On Alyson’s episode of the podcast Christy spoke on the topic more, noting that the fascination with what exactly happened, “pushes a narrative deeper into sensationalising it and that’s not what [they’re] trying to do, [they’re] trying to change it.”

Alyson mentioned that graphic or disturbing videos online that feed into this, and  impact the viewer without them even realising. “When we are exposed to certain imagery and our minds are creating scenarios, we’re potentially retraumatising ourselves, or traumatising ourselves for the first time, just because we clicked play on something.”

I’ve seen examples of this on TikTok, when people ‘trauma dump’. According to psychcentral.com, this means “when someone shares a story of trauma without considering its impact or to control another person.” People who watch these videos may find it entertaining in the moment but they may not be ready or able to properly process the content in them, which can have a negative impact.

But of course, people should be able to tell their stories. Where is the line and is there a ‘correct’ way to consume or share this information? 

“At its core, trauma porn is emotionally provocative and exploitative,” says psychologist and speaker Dr Clodagh Campbell (@the.wellness.psychologist).

“Hearing about or witnessing trauma triggers our survival instincts,” she explains, adding that once we are made aware of a traumatic event our brain begins a process to evaluate whether the information is a threat to us.

Dr. Clodagh continues, “We go through this process to inform ourselves about the trauma or event and how it happened as a control or safety mechanism, so we can inform ourselves of the danger and in turn avoid or flee from it if necessary. Once this process occurs and we deem ourselves safe, we may still continue to stare as a way to exposure ourselves to our fears (and to watch how they unfold and what the consequences are) from a safe distance without risking our safety.”

Dr. Clodagh also explains that there is scientific research that finds that a negativity bias, which is “the tendency to automatically give more attention to a negative event or negative information than positive information and events”, can be a factor in why we struggle to divert our attention from certain topics.  

So, the fascination is normal, but what about its impact on the person sharing the information?

Dr Clodagh says that when people listening to the story focus on “the specifics of the trauma rather that what the process was like for the person, or the support they need to heal from it”, the person can be left feeling unheard or not validated. Even though sharing can be a very healing experience, how it is received can have an impact too.

“When it comes to trauma, it usually isn’t the traumatic event itself that causes the distress and struggle that follows, but rather feeling alone in the trauma, so this is something that could certainly hinder the experience for the person.”

There are endless ways for people to access distressing content, from documentaries, to TikTok and even watching public figures have public mental struggles. This is content that our curiosity leads us to want to know more about, it’s natural.

“As humans we are so alike, yet due to us not sharing much of our internal worlds with one another (due perhaps to shame, guilt, fear of rejection etc) we rarely realise this!” she says. “So, there is certainly an element of this at play when you consider the fascination that public psychological and emotional struggles and battles can garner. These instances also allow us an insight into these celebrities who we rarely have very much of insight about to start.

“What also comes to mind is the process where seeing other people’s struggles makes us feel better about ourselves,” says Dr. Clodagh.

She explains that when we are consuming this content it is important to be aware of how and why we are engaging with it; “I would question here the level of fascination the person has with the trauma porn. 

“Is it quite normal or is it extreme (impacting their life and their ability to be present)? Does it help them in some way? e.g., a crime podcast may help the person feel like they are switching off or escaping their every-day life, [or] like their struggles are small compared to the struggle of others.

“Or is detrimental to them? Is it disturbing them? Are they having nightmares? Are they experiencing vicarious trauma? Are they heightening their anxiety? Are they experiencing pleasure from listening to the details? Could this be linked to psychopathic, sadistic, or masochistic personality traits?”

Once you evaluate how trauma makes you feel, it can help you to choose how you want to move forward and consume it in a healthy way, or realise it’s not benefitting you. The next time you find yourself indulging in something of this nature, just remember that there is a real person and a real traumatic experience behind it.

Feature image by Thiago Matos / Pexels 

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