Is that bloke who witnessed one of the shootings in Cumbria honestly doing himself any good by being on every news report re-living it??

[tiredemma]

I have seen him on every news report. He is in a bit of distress now on ITV

Cant be doing him any good surely????

Just saw that. I agree.

He will be going over and over it in his mind anyway....too early to tell whether it will have any repercussions for his mental health.

He seems to be getting more distressed with each news report. Yesterday he was clearly in shock- today he seems to be in obvious distress.

agree also seen him on a few times today.

wish the reporters would give him a break...he's getting more upset each time.

Going over and over it will be good for him - help with Post Traumatic Symptoms. Not sure he should be doing it with reporters though.

There is conflicting evidence as to whether or not going over a stressful event directly after the event is helpful in preventing PTSS - some psychologists believe it is not always helpful and can be more stressful.

Going over it again and again with a news crew and camera is probably the worst thing you can do.

not sure he should be doing it with reporters either, but he will be going over it in his mind anyway, and in time to come in therapy.

People deal with things differently, repeating what had happened wouldn't be for me, but maybe he does want to talk about it, and given others near him are also too near the situation, they may not want to, so this is the only way he realistically can still talk about what happened.

i thought this yesterday. he was obviously in shock and his description was fairly graphic

I know about the PTSD stuff (I lived and breathed it as my topic for my Dissertation). Just makes very uncomfortable viewing to see him unravelling on screen.

Naive me thought that the media would perhaps be a bit more responsible, but maybe he is offering himself up for interviews, who knows?

There's counsellors on the scene apparently - hope these people use it. In my experience debriefing is a good idea in the first 72 hours - stops high anxiety occurring later. I'd talk like hell - if I'd been through this experience.

I think he definitely needs to talk about it but maybe not to the media. I don't find it annoying or distasteful. He has been through a horrific trauma and will be reliving it in his mind so talking about it and crucially, having someone listen can only be a good thing.

Maybe medical/mental health professional though rather than a reporter. Poor man.

I think it's like a bereavemenr or even just your birth story. You need to talk about it to everyone who will listen as often as possible. I do hope those close to him make sure he is well supported.

myredquattro is right,you need to talk about it to any one who will listen.He will not be able to think or talk about any thing else.I really hope he takes up any offer of help.
He is in the early stages of grief.It is something he needs to go through.

I witnessed a fatal stabbing.Its been nearly 11 years ago now.Its still with me like it was yesterday.I hate to hear screaming now it makes my blood run cold.It brings it all back to me,the lady screaming for help.
I think i have drove people made over the years,because i still need to talk about it.

He will be in massive shock.
I was interviewed after the Dunblane massacre and I just remember the reporters asking all these questions and you're just thinking "should I be answering this?", but you are just not sure what to think or say.
TBH the reporters are quite in your face - they have no compassion.
They got right in our face and filmed us crying the day after it happened -awful .
poor bloke, it's probably just starting to dawn on him the reality of what is happening - I hope he can get the support he deserves.

i've just heard a 9yo boy interviewed on radio four about what he saw, while walking with his mother, when the man in front of him was gunned down.

I'm fuming tbh, why would a 9yo be interviewed? What journalist, in their right mind would think that's appropriate? What mother would agree to that?

I for one wouldn't allow my ds to be asked by the media to describe seeing a man shot at twice, and being hit in the cheek, then describing how the gunman stared straight at him and his mother.

That is unbelievable.

My DSD is 9 and we wouldn't even let her walk through the torture section at a castle, never mind relive the horror that he must have seen.

It's bad enough that he had to witness something so awful in the first place, ever mind give an interview about it!

Bless him, I hope the witnesses get lots of support.

i'm livid about it actually, have just complained to the bbc. i hope to god he's not being shown on screen too. Fingers crossed the bbc pull that soundbite, they usually do correct themselves when you complain.

I wondered about this yesterday whilst watching the news.

Correct me if I am wrong...but...if the gunman hadn't killed himself and there was going to be a subsequent trial - those witnesses wouldn't be allowed to be interviewed live on tv news programmes. So there would be some element of protection for the poor people caught up in something so horrific.

However because the gunman is dead there will be no trial and thus the witnesses are likely to be being hounded by the media looking for interviews. Maybe there should be some rule/legislation brought in that prevents witnesses to crimes such as this talking about what they witnessed...both to protect their own mental health and to allow the police to make their investigations without trial by media.

Obviously

Sorry pressed post too soon!!

Meant to say that obviously the traumatised witnesses would still need to process what they have seen...but that's where the health service and mental health teams should be deployed.

DP and I were talking about this man last night.

I said to dp that he looked like he needed to tell people so he could process what he had seen as it was so horrific and unbelievable so was telling anyone who would listen.

I do feel quite sorry for him he looks shellshocked and I hope he is getting some help.

It was like the witnesses and survivors of 9/11 for the first few days after, all they wanted to do was talk to anyone about what they had seen or gone through.

Meant to add to my post...I was suggesting some rule that prevents talking about it in the first few weeks/months until all investigations over. I understand that we couldn't and shouldn't ban anybody from talking about something if they want to once legal process is finished.

they only quoted the 9yo on the 10am news, hoping that'll be the end of his exposure.

there does need to be a code of ethics, a standard to which news reported in this country needs to be held.

I've seen that young boy today on the tv so it definitely wasn't only on the radio. I agree with other comments, I would never let my daughter near a journalist after seeing something like that!

shame on the press.