What type of show do you think this is?

Quick answer:

• What is its style?

• What type of person does the presenter seem to be?
• Does it seem well researched?
• Would you keep watching?

What is the scariest film, book, TV show or game?

Why? / What was scary about it?

British Medical Journal, 1994 (BMJ 1994;308:389)

Post-traumatic stress disorder in children after television programmes

On Hallowe'en (31 October) 1992 a programme with the title Ghostwatch was shown on
television. Four months later two 10 year old boys were referred separately by their general
practitioners to the child psychiatry unit at our hospital. Post-traumatic stress disorder was
diagnosed, based on the criteria in the International Classification of Disease, tenth revision
(ICD-10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition, revised
(DSM-III-R). We report here these two cases.

Case histories
Case 1

This boy had been frightened by Ghostwatch and had refused to watch the ending. He
subsequently expressed fear of ghosts, witches, and the dark, constantly talking about them
and seeking reassurance. He suffered panic attacks, refused to go upstairs alone, and slept
with the bedroom light on. He had nightmares and daytime flashbacks and banged his head to
remove thoughts of ghosts. He became increasingly clingy and was reluctant to go to school
or to allow his mother to go out without him.

His parents had separated when he was 4 years old, and he had a close relationship with his
mother. His early development had been normal, although he was described as a sensitive
child and a worrier. He was admitted to the hospital's child and family unit as his mother
could no longer cope with his behaviour at home. A behavioural programme was established:
he began to keep a diary of flashbacks; his mother was helped to regain control in their
relationship; and both were discouraged from discussing ghosts and his fears. On discharge
eight weeks later he was happier and confident and free of symptoms.

Case 2
Immediately after watching Ghostwatch this child, also described as a worrier, had
complained of being frightened. He had felt sick, and cried easily, and refused to go into his
bedroom, complaining of someone watching him there. He was consequently allowd to sleep
in his parents' room, where he talked excessively about his fears; his parents were drawn into
a discussion and had to reassure him repeatedly throughout the night.

He was seen in the outpatient clinic. A behavioural programme was established, whereby he
was encouraged to sleep in his own room with brief comforting when afraid and to ignore any
discussion about the programme. After three appointments at weekly intervals, with
telephone conversations in between, the situation had improved: he was sleeping in his own
room and the whole family seemed more relaxed.
 Task 1 – In your books

From Case 1

 List three effects that the show had on the child.

 What techniques were used to help the child?

From Case 2

 List three effects that the show had on the child.

 What techniques were used to help the child?

Task 2 – In your books

 Answer this question: What 3 similarities are there in the two

texts?

How to do it:
State what the similarity is and then give a quote from each text to
support your statement.

i.e.
Both texts show the parents having to help the child. In Case 1 it says,
“He was admitted to the hospital's child and family unit as his mother could no
longer cope.” Whereas in Case 2 it says, “his parents were drawn into a
discussion and had to reassure him repeatedly throughout the night.”
Ghostwatch: BBC Halloween spoof that 'gave children
PTSD' turns 25

The BBC is marking the 25th anniversary of one of its most controversial TV shows.
Billed as a spoof, Ghostwatch still duped thousands with its fake investigation into
paranormal activity, and in one case led to the suicide of a teenage boy. 
On Halloween in 1992, when Saturday night TV was at a peak, Ghostwatch managed
to be the most-talked about show of the night. It detailed a supposedly "live" investigation
into strange goings-on at a family home in north-west London. 
Penned by horror writer Stephen Volk, who had originally thought of it as a six-part
drama but was instead to write it as a 90 minute ghost story, Ghostwatch went through
several rewrites before executives were satisfied. 
"They didn't get it when they read it, why it was written in this peculiar way," Volk
told the BBC. "They didn't understand how it was going to work."
Michael Parkinson was asked to present the show with popular children's TV host
Sarah Greene, and her husband Mike Smith, who worked in TV and radio. Craig Charles
worked as the "roving reporter" speaking to the family who were supposedly haunted.
A feature in the Radio Times explained it was a drama, but not everyone read the
magazine. So when Ghostwatch  aired at 9.25pm, thousands of UK viewers were led to
believe that a team of researchers had spent the last 10 months investigation paranormal
activity at the Early family home. 
By the end of the show, Volk told the BBC that the switchboard had been "jammed"
with irate viewers trying to get through to complain.
"That was a bit of a 'gulp' moment," he said, and explained that many viewers had
been traumatised by what they thought they had just witnessed. "I think three women who
were pregnant went into labour that evening."
Five days after the show aired, 18-year-old Martin Denham, who had learning
difficulties, took his own life. 
His parents said he had been "hypnotised and obsessed" with the programme and was
convinced their own home had ghosts.
That night he had insisted on keeping his bedroom light on, which he had never done
before, and was concerned about noise coming from central heating pips in the house -
something featured in the Ghostwatch programme.