I am greatly entranced by the idea of social determinants of health; it is awe striking to think that the social activities within our lives impact our health. Recently I was scrolling through facebook and came across an article that stated that a PTSD-like trauma is triggered for Black Americans as the deaths of people that look like them go viral. (I have included the link for said article below)
For myself, it was hard and often impossible to go on social media sites the past few years after so many men and women of color were murdered and displayed. For me, it felt like a new platform to display the murders of Black bodies as what was once done with the mutilations and hanging of black bodies in the past. Where there was once a gathering of people to see the strange fruit upon trees, there is now a share or retweet button.
Knowing my own sentiments, I was curious as to the validity of the statements within the article, especially being that over the years there has been a horde of Black deaths that have gone viral; replaying over and over and popping up over and over on social media feeds.
The dissertation of Morgan Maxwell, Rage and social media: The effect of social media on perceptions of racism, stress appraisal, and anger expression among young African American adults, studied the effects of social media on young Black adults. Maxwell’s findings indicated that social media is maladaptive to young Black adults which correlates to negative psychological and health outcomes. Being that young Black adults use social media sites, namely Twitter, the most, Maxwell indicates that perceived racism via social media sites leads to weakened cardiovascular and immune functioning, affecting a multitude of other health-related problems.
Going forward I believe that the content of social media feeds need to be thoroughly vetted to be cognizant of its audience. I understand that there is a desire to get information, but at what cost?
With all of this research, I wonder if social media is having a two-pronged effect on society, triggering an extreme stress response for some and an indifference and hate toward the Black body. Scrolling through a social media feed and noting the comments made can in and of itself be heart-wrenching and stressful.
Na'imah, Wow! I had no idea that studies were being done to examine this! I find it both enlightening and saddening. To know that Black Americans may go out into the streets and face discrimination only to come home and feel more stress by what is presented to them just goes to show that there really doesn't seem to be a place of safety for Black Americans anywhere. I find the parallel that you drew between media's display of the murders of black bodies to the past lynchings and hangings to be a unique take on society's regression. This reminds me of the book "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander where she discusses how the prison system is regressing society into a new caste system that almost parallels the Jim Crow laws set back in the 1900-1950's. Seeing as how my comment has become more of a social justice discussion rather than a physiological one, I will move on and discuss what we (as a society) can do to eradicate these physiological symptoms brought upon by the media. To be honest, I am stumped. I once heard someone describe media's unspoken standards-- "If it bleeds, it leads"meaning that the media loves the violence because it is what brings in the ratings. No one can tell the media what to show and no one can tell the audience what to watch. In the end, people just have to keep pushing and protesting. Take the knee and show the world that no one stands for this insensible violence and brutality towards Black Americans.
ReplyDeleteWesley, I love that you approached this as a social justice discussion. I think it is very important that we talk about social justice issues, approaching them especially with a physiological lens being that like you I did not know that studies like this were being conducted. If we wish to best serve communities it's imperative to understand that health is a multi-faceted issue that can not be solved with a monolithic approach. Within this past year I read the book "Medical Apartheid:The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present" by Harriet A. Washington which chronicles, as the title suggests, the experiments on Black bodies throughout history. Washington's book wholeheartedly depicts the need for social justice within the medical fields.
DeleteI don't believe that you should take this as a saddening event, instead I believe that this should be considered an opportunity for change. By engaging in discussions such as this we allow for the initial steps of change. Social media is a two-pronged monster, it elicits these PTSD like reactions but it also has the ability to keep people informed about the tragedies that are happening across the nation. So is it best to keep people informed despite the consequences it may have on their health?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThis is such an important and thought provoking read! Check out this (http://prc.sph.umich.edu/2015/11/anxiety-in-african-american-youth-impacts-future-cortisol-production-in-gender-specific-ways/) article and this (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763623/) article on the relationship between increased cortisol production (and the health risks associated with it), and experiencing race-related difficulties/microaggressions. It’s fascinating (and disheartening) what a profound impact social media can have on human physiology. What research methods do you think would be the most safe and effective to learn more about this link?
This is rather fascinating. I never thought of the over exposure of black deaths on social media being a stress provoking thing. The truth is that anything can be a trigger. I am sure for young, black males seeing the bodies of their peers paraded through social media invokes multiple responses. In my opinion, social media is going to have so many affects that we will not truly understand until many years from now. The scary thing is could social media be making both crimes worse because some people want to publicize their crimes, instead of seeking the proper medical attention.
ReplyDeleteI was happy to read this article after searching at google , after reading I have written a piece of article about :green apple nutrition fact Thank you for the article and helping me.
ReplyDelete