Journalists are often the last to admit they may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A 2022 study published by Nature defines PTSD as "a maladaptive and debilitating psychiatric disorder, characterized by re-experiencing, avoidance, negative emotions and thoughts, and hyper-arousal in the months and years following exposure to severe trauma." The fear of a memory of a traumatic event can lead a person to relive it over and again.

Dr Carl Lejuez, a clinical psychologist and provost of Stony Brook University, trained counselors in Iraq in methods to help US combat soldiers suffering from PTSD. He instructed them in "behavioral activation treatment", a swift, three-step program which involves identifying what matters most to a person, establishing a set of values, and finding small ways to achieve them.

"The way I think of this therapy is as a Swiss army knife. No one would ever use a Swiss army knife to eat soup at home. There are better spoons but, if you are in the woods, it's actually pretty valuable."

Dr Carl Lejuez, clinical psychologist and provost of Stony Brook University

According to Dr Lejuez, journalists are often reluctant to acknowledge the risks they take with their mental health. "Your career could fall behind, or you may not get that one big story. You may feel badly about yourself and what happens is you get so focused on your work that you lose sight of what is important to you. You can end up putting yourself in significant danger."

Dr Anissa Abi-Dargham, the head of psychiatry at Stony Brook University, defines trauma as "any experience that is outside of the ordinary that people can experience." Born and raised in Lebanon, Dr Abi-Dargham was a teenager and medical student in Beirut during the 1980s Lebanese civil war. "You always have the memory that those important years in your life, like late adolescence and early adulthood, were robbed from you," she said.

Dr Abi-Dargham explained that a person's response to fear is directly related to the amygdala -- a small region of the brain responsible for recording inputs of threatening situations and processing their context. For example, hearing a loud noise is an input of a threatening situation. However, depending on the context, a loud noise might not necessarily mean danger.

The amygdala maintains that balance, thanks to the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. These two regions are supposed to regulate the response of the amygdala to stress, bringing down its activation levels if necessary. If this system fails, the amygdala loses its balance and over-activates, sending exaggerated signals to the rest of the body. This exaggerated response to stress, even in situations where there is no real threat, leads to symptoms of PTSD.

"There is a phenomenon that happens called 'fear conditioning', so that things that are neutral become scary . . . This is what translates into the experience, not only of anxiety, but also sweating, heart rate increases, shaking and tunnel vision."

Dr Anissa Abi-Dargham, head of psychiatry at Stony Brook University.

In April 2023, Dr Abi-Dargham participated in a symposium on post-traumatic stress hosted by the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting. She said, "The first, most therapeutic thing that can happen is to recognize that the event was traumatic and to be able to talk about it."

She added that there were multiple types of therapy a person can seek out such as drug therapy, psychotherapy and behavioral therapy. The latter exposes the person to the trauma in small doses until it becomes routine and the responsiveness is readjusted.

Dr Abi-Dargham shared that the way she copes with stress is related to exercise, such as running. She also recommended staying in touch with loved ones. "It's helpful to have that support system."