Mental Health Impact of Digital Violence
Digital violence is an embodied experience.
It’s not “just happening on the internet”.
Anywhere technology exists, it can be weaponized. Any form of tech has the ability to be misused and abused. With abuse - can come trauma.
Our brain interprets fear based on threats and danger, and this can be coming from a device or online platform.
Trauma from technology has a global impact on a person's functioning.
Experiencing abuse online and through technology, repeatedly, can create a trauma response. Trauma responses occur involuntarily to help the body fight the terrifying things that it does not deserve to experience. But these reactions create constant stress in our nervous system.
Trauma from digital violence is unique due to the litany of ways survivors are forced to interact with the digital world. Communication through technology can activate a person’s trauma, further impacting their access to care and seeking justice.
For those who have suffered online abuse, connecting through digital methods can re activate trauma symptoms and destabilize a person. The constellation of symptoms triggered from technology can become barriers in our lives, especially as most engagement is now web based.
The coerced nature of our digital world can cause retraumatization due to the daily destabilizing interactions a survivor unintentionaly experiences. This results in feeling an overwhelming loss of safety, online and off.
We want to develop practices to support safety in the digital world—because we understand that while Tech keeps changing, abuse doesn’t.
Being trauma informed in our digital communication methods is a form of prevention when working with all survivors of violence.
