Mass Media as a Source of Psychogenic Influence

Relevance. The problem of the influence of mass media (the media – further) on human behavior is interdisciplinary and is studied within such scientific fields as philosophy, psychology, sociology, linguistics, and so on. This analysis presents a clinical and psychological point of view on the problem of the psychogenic impact of the media. The article presents an analysis of research on the phenomenon of “psychogeny”: the history of the problem, the concept, definitions and classifications. For the first time, the role of the media in the formation of a distorted attitude towards the disease in patients with COVID-19 is considered. The article provides an overview of theoretical and empirical studies on the problem of psychogenic effects from the media on patients who have suffered COVID-19.

Objective. To examine the role of the psychogenic factor of the information environment in shaping illness perception during the pandemic.

Methodology: theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign literary sources for the years 1971– 2024 on the study of the role of the psychogenic factor in the formation of attitudes towards the disease. The search for publications was carried out on the foreign scientific databases SpringerLink, JSTORE, ResearchGate, as well as on the Russian libraries CyberLeninka and eLibrary.ru.

Results. The COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented in terms of its global impact, has been widely covered by mass media. On the one hand, mass media play a preventive role by disseminating information aimed at limiting the spread of epidemics and pandemics. On the other hand, repeated and daily reporting on hospitalization and mortality rates exerts a psychotraumatic (psychogenic) effect. During the pandemic, such information may actualize existential concerns about death and threats to life and health among broad population groups, thereby negatively affecting adaptive psychological capacities. Consequently, distorted attitudes toward illness may form prior to any diagnosis, while the act of receiving a diagnosis itself becomes a trigger that initiates a predetermined maladaptive reaction to the disease.

Conclusion. The findings highlight the significance of considering psychogenic media influence when designing psychopreventive programs for populations exposed to emergencies, including future pandemics. They also underscore the relevance of accounting for psychogenic factors in the clinical interaction with patients, particularly those recovering from acute respiratory infections in pandemic contexts, while taking into account their individual psychological characteristics. Furthermore, the results may inform subsequent research on the psychological effects of media exposure.