The emotional stress on journalists reporting traumatic events has been under the spotlight at a three-day conference.

Jackie Cameron, from the Institute of Work Psychology, conducted research exploring the experiences of 20 current and ex-journalists.

She looked at how they dealt with reporting large scale disasters and what they did to cope with the effects afterwards.

The study, which is contributing to a campaign by the National Union of Journalists, showed that journalists often took responsibility for their own psychological well being.

Jackie said: “Journalists come face to face with things many of us can only imagine, yet theirs is an industry which may provide little in the way of formal training or support for dealing with the trauma they can experience.”

The presentation was part of a conference run by the British Psychology Society occupational division, in Stratford-upon-Avon.