Watching war unfold is distressing — here's how to protect your mental health

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/24/ [login to see] /images-war-gaza-israel-vicarious-trauma-stress
"Since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in October, my Instagram feed has been filled with violent and heart-wrenching videos and photos: a Palestinian mother hunched over the body of her child killed by an Israeli air strike; a baby's bloody hand reaching out from the rubble; an Israeli mother wondering if her two little girls, who were kidnapped by the militant group Hamas, were still alive.

Even though the images are deeply distressing — sometimes they drive me to tears — I've felt compelled to bear witness to the war.

In my years working in the news, I've reported on child trauma in Ukraine, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the Syrian civil war. Coverage of the current conflict has been nonstop and it's been harder for me to look away".