Rethinking trauma in an age of total visibility

The digital age has transformed the way we experience and respond to traumatic events. Continuous and vicarious exposure to distressing visual content through social media and online news has created new pathways for psychological harm that existing diagnostic frameworks fail to capture. This perspective article examines how digital technologies have blurred the boundaries between direct and indirect trauma, enabling mediated exposure to evoke stress responses comparable to those arising from firsthand experience. Using the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel as a case study, it explores how the online circulation of graphic material has expanded the reach of trauma, reshaped its mechanisms, and challenged established clinical definitions. Building on the historical evolution of posttraumatic stress disorder, the article calls for new conceptual, technological, and clinical frameworks to address digital trauma - a form of exposure defined by its pervasiveness, accessibility, and social diffusion.