Why Watching People Die Feels Normal — And Why That Should Terrify Us

This isn’t a political blog — it’s a reflection from a therapist who studies brain development and parenting. From a human. 

Last week, between clients, I walked into my eyebrow appointment. The esthetician had a livestream playing — a debate — and in an instant, we witnessed someone lose their life on camera. Blood pouring out, a body collapsing. I was sick. Horrified. I canceled the rest of my day. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even close my eyes without replaying what I’d seen. Days later, I still can’t.

In my own distress, I reached out to a therapist. Their response? “Do you think you’re just overly sensitive? Have you thought about medication?” At first I didn’t register it. But later, I realized how chilling that was. As if the “normal” response should be to watch a human die and move on — to the next video, the next errand, the next distraction.

Something is broken. We are consuming death, violence, and despair in real time and not even flinching. Social media has trained our brains to scroll past humanity. What once would have shattered us is now social media "content.” Evil has become casual. Life is losing value in front of our eyes, and many don’t even feel it anymore.

This is not resilience. This is trauma. It is nervous system collapse. Our empathy circuits are burning out. The more we expose our brains to horror without pause, the less human we become.

What can make a difference? Logging off. Protecting your mind. Choosing not to watch. Be controversial: get off social media entirely. Return to reality. Sit in real conversations, real human connection, real community. When we step away from the endless feed, our nervous systems begin to recalibrate. We regain sensitivity. We remember that a life is not a clip, and that grief deserves more than a swipe.

If you’ve felt sick, sad, disturbed — that means you’re still human. Don’t numb it. Protect it. Because our humanity depends on it.