What is cruel world syndrome?

The cruel world syndrome was first coined by George Gerbner in the 1970s. It refers to the phenomenon by which the prolonged exposure to information and content of a violent nature, increases the feeling of hostility and fear of the environment. It makes a person think that the world is more dangerous than it really is.

The human being is genetically prepared to attend and prioritize potentially dangerous stimuli before pleasant stimuli. Is a adaptive strategy carved over centuries of evolution, whose main function is protect us and keep us safe.

The media and fiction influence

The news and media They regularly offer news of catastrophes, crimes, accidents, attacks, kidnappings ... On the other hand, movies, television series, social networks are also loaded with high doses of violence. Even the "infoxication" has caused the cases of in our society to multiply.

Thus the cruel world syndrome occurs both with real information as in fiction.

The importance of storytelling

The cruel world syndrome is part of the Crop theory of Gerbner, whose fundamental objective is to address the consequences of living in a cultural environment dominated by television and how the continued consumption of certain aggressive content it affects our conception of the world. Although this theory has been extended to other means by the advancement of technology, such as the Internet.

The TV is understood as a way of culturize and control the human being. It is done through narration, something basic that has been studied by various models of psychotherapy, but perhaps the greatest exponent has been represented by it.

The narration serves to organize the stimulus chaos of the world and make it understandable and predictable. Depending on which pieces of information we select, we will spin one story or another, and that will have repercussions on an emotional level. Therapy consists of modifying parts of the dominant narrative saturated with the problem, adjusting some of its components to create a less threatening alternative in the patient.

How to prevent Cruel World Syndrome?

Some tips that can help prevent and manage cruel world syndrome include:

• Become aware: to solve a problem you must first realize that we have it. Reflect on the emotional consequences of accessing certain information and how they change your way of thinking.
• Be critical- Put the information you receive in context and look for information that counteracts the initial news.
• Don't generalize from specific information. For example, just because there is a plane crash does not mean that flying is dangerous.
• Toggles contents: gives variety to the information you receive.
• Take care of your focus of attention: If you focus on negative stimuli, you will have negative emotions.
• Move the screens away from time to time: connect with the tangible world, enjoy everything that you have at your fingertips (nature, art, sport ...) it can help you offset the excess of violent information we receive from the media;
• : It has innumerable effects on health, not only psychological but also physical.

• The cruel world syndrome occurs with both factual and fictional information.
• There are techniques that will help you to remove negative messages and analyze the information from all points of view.
• If you focus on negative stimuli, you will have negative emotions. If you focus on things that work, your emotions will inevitably change.