Viewing disturbing news footage on television could intensify stress and trauma,according to a latest study.A month before the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in the US,sleep and memory researcher Ruth Propper,at Merrimack College in North Andover,Massachusetts,US,began teaching a class in which students had to record their dreams on the mornings that they remembered them.On the day after the attacks she distributed a questionnaire to the class asking them about their activities the day before,including how much television they watched.The researchers say their dream analysis shows that viewing television coverage of a traumatic event can intensify stress and trauma.Some psychologists,however,objest to this conclusion,contending that dreams do not necessarily reflect a person's mental state.