This is a very tough topic. I experienced a lot of fatigue and depression during filming and editing a documentary about WW2. Thank you for adressing this topic
This is a very important subject and I appreciate you opening it up for discussion here. It has helped me tremendously in my profession, but also as a husband, father, and friend to establish a daily morning practice of prayer, walking, and journalling. Then having a shutdown ritual of reflection and planning for the next day. This activity has been positive and profound. On a shoot it can be difficult to fit these practices into the agenda that unfolds, but it can be done. Maybe not all neatly fitting into a sequential routine, but a prayer can be made anytime. Journalling can be done at a break in the action or at night before bed. Exercise or walking simply comes with the territory. The key is infusing intentionality into the work and making sure my emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental bases are covered and I’m engaged in the work, open, available, and present.
Thanks for this. These are all great suggestions and love your note of "making sure your emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental bases are covered."
Thank you Matt for this video and addressing this important topic. I've struggled with compassion fatigue for years. I've worked all over the world documenting the worst humans do to each other. Sex/labor trafficking, war, disasters, child abuse, poverty and the list goes on.Thirty years doing this job has taken a toll. The defense mechanisms to what I've experienced is sarcasm and a hardness of emotions. It's a struggle. Love what I do and the stories I get to tell. Appreciate you talking about this topic that often goes unsaid.
I've been working on a documentary in the Marshall Islands for the past year dealing with the trauma and resilience of its people post-nuclear testing and rising seas to climate change, and this video resonated with me. Thank you for taking the time to address this. Love your videos!
Im thinking of the world wide scale of watching genocide in HD in real time. I cannot begin to imagine how those who are documenting these and other atrocities and brutality and despair around the world manage day to day. Thank you for this insight. Much respect to you.
Thank you for your comment. What I think a lot of people don't realize is even without being on the ground to experience these things first hand, the vicarious trauma and even hearing about these things over and over can have an effect on you. It's always important to manage your stress and anxiety, regardless of how close you are to the trauma.
Thanks for talking about this Matt, nobody's going to be looking out for your mental health most of the time because everyone's busy in their own bubble so it's good to be looking out for yourself so it doesn't build up and become more detrimental.
As a volunteer medic in the surrounding agricultural areas and for provincial ambulances services here in South Africa, experiencing extreme trauma is inevitable and I found working through these emotions and thoughts with my mentors has helped immensely. Thanks Matt for your invaluable insight and guidance. 🙏
Well said! While I am an amateur videographer interested in documentaries, I earn my gear $$$ as a clinician in a locked acute care mental health setting, and have seen a lot of horrific stuff. I'd like to add, though, that a common offshoot of trauma is the fact that so so many good but traumatized folks develop a secret, shameful relationship with alcohol (or chronic ideas of suicide) that first originated as a way to manage and get through the anxiety of what they've seen and experienced, or what we might face tomorrow. Take care of each other.
Thank you, Matt, for talking about this. I am so thankful you made a channel and go in depth about the areas of doc filmmaking no one else does. I would love to hear about your experiences filming in these situations and how you navigated filming scenes that were troublesome. If you were open to that of course. I am always thinking about the operator in crazy or emotional points in docs. Doc filmmakers sacrifice their well-being to show the world a view they otherwise would have never of seen.
Thanks for your comment. I think so much of it comes down to managing your emotions and how you deal with them on the back end to also allow yourself to be present and open as it's happening. Its a real struggle for sure.
I just attended a talk which a journalist shared his experience for the past 20 years in conflict zones and his ptsd. His work is so cool but made me think twice if I am really going into this route.
I think it's important for people to realize what actually goes into making this kind of work. The idea of war photography and the like is often glamorized, but there's a lot more behind it that people don't realize. It's deeply rewarding, and certainly exciting at times, but also comes with a lot of weight.
