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Created: March 25, 2003
Latest Update: March 25, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Health Risks of Watching the War

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, March 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.

This essay is based on Here's Some News You Can Lose: >Health Risks of Watching the War Health Journal. Wall Street Journal. By Tara Parker-Pope. Tuesday, March 25, 2003. At p. D 1.Backup. Not available online. See jeanne.

Mary Conner's comments on how she was reacting to the war news caused me to recognize the importance of this article. We are so used to television noise in the background that we assume it doesn't affect us. We're wrong. The constant pounding of war news and parading of "experts" does come through to our subconscious, and it can affect us.

Mary began to have fears about poison gases, and specifically to fear long suffering for which nothing could be done. That's a very scary thought. May it not turn into a nightmare for her. Because I have been so concerned about the global, political, and economic consequences of the war, I hadn't gotten around yet to feeling scared of chemical warfare. That's a matter of pscyhological life space differences. (Kurt Lewin's field theory.

Kurt Lewin recognized that behavior and communication and understanding are directly tied to the field in which they take place. When we begin to wonder about the war and what it means to us personally, the fact of all that terrible news, and it's terrible whether we're winning or losing battles - somebody is dying in that process, weighs heavily on us.

Mary's peceived fear of the agony of a suffering death is not unusual. We have been hearing descriptions of what it was like for those civilians who were exposed to poisonous chemicals by General Chemical Ali, of the Hussein regime. Try not to watch alone when such images are shown, and such agonies discussed. And make an effort to get each other to look away, turn off the news, and engage in some comforting activity. That doesn't mean that you are denying the issue and the concerns we all feel. But you need to avoid the intense fear for the sake of your own health and your loved ones.