9/11 Dreams Study Suggests TV Coverage Boosted Stress

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However, in this study, "we interpreted dreaming about specific references to 9/11 as indicative of stress," Propper said. In other words, dream imagery such as burning towers, crashing jetliners and the like were thought to indicate more stress than vaguer imagery not directly tied to 9/11.

The journals revealed that "the content of people's dreams changed after 9/11," Propper said. For example, compared to dreams occurring in the weeks before the event, "dreams after 9/11 were twice as likely to contain specific references to 9/11, to be threatening, or to contain themes related to 9/11," the researcher said.

But not every student had the same level of frightening 9/11 imagery in their dreams.

Specifically, participants who watched the most TV coverage of the attacks were also most likely to have dreams with high levels of explicit elements of 9/11, suggestive -- according to Propper -- of higher stress levels. In fact, the likelihood of this type of imagery rose with the number of hours per day that students watched 9/11 coverage (anywhere from one to 12 hours daily, according to student reports).

This research isn't unique, Propper noted. One study, published in 2003 in the journal Dreaming, yielded similar findings among 16 people who had kept dream diaries during the month before and after 9/11.

Propper said she doesn't know why repeat viewing of a horrific event might boost stress levels, or why so many people are fascinated by such coverage.

Hilfer believes the answer to the second question is simple -- curiosity.

"We are all looking for a kernel of new information, we are all looking to add to our base of information, even though it's traumatic for us," he said.

But based on the new findings, it may be healthier to switch off the TV once in a while, Hilfer said. "These are lessons that can be applied to media viewing for the incidents going on in Virginia right now," he added.

There may be one tried-and-true method of reducing anxiety linked to traumatic events: talking it over with others.