This is the first installment in a five-part series on mental health in the newsroom.
When Hurricane Katrina swirled onto the Louisiana shore and residents of New Orleans clogged highways to flee, John McCusker stayed behind.
A photographer for The Times-Picayune for more than two decades, McCusker paddled through the city's muddy waters in a kayak, day after day, documenting the destruction. Like many of the city’s residents, he had lost his home and all of his possessions. His family had relocated to Birmingham, Alabama, five hours away.
On Aug. 8, 2006 -- after nearly year of documenting the trauma surrounding him -- McCusker was seen driving erratically through the city. When police caught up with him at a traffic stop, he begged officers to end his life. “Just kill me, just kill me,” he repeated. “Get it over with.” McCusker backed up, pinning a cop between vehicles before speeding off, crashing into cars and signs along the way. When police caught up with him again, they subdued him with a stun gun and arrested him. McCusker says he only remembers waking up in four-point restraints.
“I had no idea how I got there,” he said.
As much as journalists may fancy themselves superhuman observers of history, the truth is that we are as susceptible to trauma as the victims whose stories we tell.
Those covering natural disasters or war are not the only ones who suffer. “It turns out that almost all journalists are exposed to traumatic-stress experiences,” said Elana Newman, a professor of psychology at the University of Tulsa who studies journalism and trauma. That includes reporters who show up along with the first responders when a car crashes, a train derails or someone is shot; the photo and video editors who must sift through footage from terrorist attacks, experiencing trauma secondhand; and freelancers who weather the hazards of the profession without traditional organizational supports.
[For more of this story, written by Gabriel Arana, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...rauma_n_7305460.html]
Comments (1)