It’s been hard to escape the footage of the fatal encounter between Tyree Nichols and Memphis police on social media, TV, and in the news. Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis said the video hearkened back to the LAPD’s brutal beating of Rodney King more than 30 years ago, which awoke the nation to the kinds of police abuses we now see as a big problem.
However, a lot of people are exhausted from years of police brutality, says Dr. Alduan Tartt, clinical psychologist and child and family therapist in Georgia. That’s because these incidents are constantly shared online and covered in the news.
“It’s coming up in our feeds before we even look for it. It can just be the story of the day, and people are traumatized. People are stressed right now. People are dealing with losses. Depression and anxiety are at all-time highs.”
As a psychologist, Tartt believes it’s not a good idea to release the footage publicly because it indirectly exposes people to trauma.
“What we're doing is that we're releasing this [footage] and we're not able to screen who watches it. So our 12-year-old sons and daughters can watch this indirectly. Indirect trauma is witnessing trauma. It's not happening to you, but you're watching it happen to a person.”
It especially affects those who can identify with the victim: “If you're an African American, or if you are a human, and you don't feel another human should be treated that way, [or] if you're a mother of a Black son.”
As a result, people lose what’s called their internal locus of control.
“What that means is your ability to control your environment. You could have a routine traffic stop. … And cops could literally kidnap you from your car and beat you to death. And there's nothing you can do. And so when we see that, it makes us feel uncomfortable, and [we] have no sense of control of avoiding vigilante cops like this.”
Tartt says the choice made by the Memphis Police Department to announce when it released its footage can help regain that sense of control. That’s because audiences are aware of when that type of video is released and they can decide whether they want to interact with it.
When it comes to social media, Tartt says the act of muting certain accounts and other stories during these situations can also help.
“They're actually protecting their mental health, because it does have an impact on how we feel, how we sleep, our anxiety levels, our depression levels, and our overall sense of safety. People are guarding that energy.”