Some news media workers appear to thrive on adrenaline... until they don’t. At that point they tend to find themselves burnt out. In the regular column, Dart Centre Asia Pacific chair Trina McLellan and Mindframe’s Kristy Cashman ask how media workers can tell the difference between these stages and what role can self care play?

Journalism can be a stressful profession. Some stress can be positive and useful, like the sort that drives you to deliver your stories by deadline. Equally, other types of stress can be negative, harmful and cumulative.

Some news media workers appear to thrive on adrenaline – a hormonal reaction to experiencing positive or negative stressors – to help slay those deadlines … until they don’t. At that point they tend to find themselves burnt out.

But how do you tell the difference between these stages and what role can self care play? 

Positive stress – or eustress – tends to get us out of bed in the mornings, sees us getting some exercise and heading off to work on time.

It tends to bring joy or satisfaction. It could be your latest story that rates well or being called into the editor’s office for feedback only to find it’s reaffirming and not a reprimand.

Such situations will probably feel at least a bit stressful but are likely to have few adverse or long-term consequences.

This is because stress is our response to a situation and not the situation itself.

However, when confronted with potentially negatively stressful situations, humans – as a means of survival – tend to respond in one of several ways.

Simply put, that’s fight, flight, freeze or fawn, with the first two responses preparing the body for action, attack or retreat and the latter two prompting the body to automatically reduce the perception of pain and/or provide emotional escape through disassociation.

When this stress response kicks in, your heart may race, your palms may sweat or you may have difficulty breathing. On the other hand, may also find yourself fearful, angry or even teary. 

It’s the amount of stress that you encounter – and how you deal with it – that will make the biggest difference over time.

In addition to what might be going on in your private life, in your professional life you may also be dealing with relentless deadlines, exposure to difficult or distressing stories or scenes and disturbing content, all of which will add to your stress load.

It’s the latter situation that could well trigger stress responses that are both uncomfortable and disruptive.

Unrelenting stress inevitably leads to burnout, a state of distress where your muscles are tense all the time, your heartbeat and blood pressure are elevated, you are hypervigilant or hyperalert as well as experiencing other physical and psychological responses. 

Fatigue sets in and you’re feeling permanently exhausted, lacking energy – which, in turn, affects your work and home life.

Traumatic stress, on the other hand, is a psycho-biological reaction to a situation where there is a threat to life to one’s self or others, or an actual loss of life.

It can be caused by sudden, unexpected or unfamiliar events that confront your sense of safety and control over your own life.

Most people recover from traumatic stress caused by a single incident.

However, news media workers are likely to be exposed to multiple traumatic incidents across their careers, where they bear witness to the grief and tragedy of others and engage with vulnerable, highly distressed individuals as well as record their recollections of tragedy, violence and death.

Journalists may find themselves on scene for hours – or even days – on end. They may even witness violence, crime or tragedy firsthand.

In situations where a news media worker is seriously impacted after covering traumatic news, they should seek professional help from a general practitioner who may refer them to a trauma-informed psychologist.

While most journalists will never get to that stage, this is where self care can help them navigate such challenging periods.

Self care is about taking steps to feel healthy and comfortable. It’s the physical, relationship, work, emotional and spiritual steps that you decide to take to protect yourself and lengthen your career.

By prioritising self care, journalists can build resilience for the essential reporting that informs society and alerts authorities to areas of support or assistance need.

*** This month a valuable collaboration between Mindframe and the Dart Centre Asia Pacific has seen the launch of a special tip sheet on how news media workers can prioritise self care when covering traumatic stories.

By Dart Centre Asia Pacific chair Trina McLellan and Mindframe’s Kristy Cashman.

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Photo credits + Alt text
    1. Pexels-CottonbroStudio
Man at work, reading his phone, with only lamp bathing his desk with light. 
    2. Photo by Richard “Tommy” Campion, with permission
Television camera crew race to their next interview.
    3. Pexels-Markus Spiske
Self care can start with something as simple as a walk in nature.