Fronts in Minds: A Phenomenological Study on the Effects of War News on Collective Mental Health.

Abstract

War has been recognized throughout history for its devastating effects on societies, and these effects have not been limited to physical destruction. In the modern era, even wars in remote regions have profound psychological effects on large masses due to the instant information transfer brought about by globalization and technology. This study aims to examine in depth the effects of exposure to war news on the collective mental health of individuals through a phenomenological approach. In this qualitative study using a phenomenological research design, one of the purposive sampling methods, criterion sampling, was employed. Face-to-face in-depth interviews lasting approximately 35-45 min were conducted with 20 participants. Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method was used to analyze the obtained data. Data were collected according to COREQ criteria. According to the analysis results, three main categories emerged as follows: echoes of collective anxiety, keys to maintaining spiritual resilience, and navigating the media storm. This research provides important findings on the psychological and social effects of the media by examining the impact of war news on public mental health in depth. It was determined that war news has the potential to spread social anxiety and fear. Participants expressed the negative effects of war news on psychological and physical health and stated that this situation creates a wide wave of anxiety and psychological storms. The constant coverage of war news in the media also affects social empathy, shaping society's ability to support each other in times of crisis.