'It is not events but how we view them that matters' Epictetus.

Appraisal

The psychologist Richard Lazarus showed how appraisal of a situation can affect how stressful it feel.

He created a stressful situation as a research experiment to test the idea that it is our thoughts or 'reading' of a situation rather than the objective reality of the event that determines how stressful we find it.

He showed people films in which people were hurt - a finger was cut off by a saw!
One group were told beforehand that this was not real and was acted.
Another group were told beforehand that it was a training video used and so could distance themselves somewhat.
The third group were told that the people on film really suffered pain and infection later.

Lazarus then measured the stress reactions such as increased heart rate and sweating and participant's own evaluation of how stressed they felt.
Not surprisingly the third group showed most physiological activity and reported the most stress.

A few thoughts.
Not surprising perhaps.
Does this mean fake violence in the media is less harmful if it is framed as fake?
Are more sensitive people more at risk for stress? Probably.
It would seem to strongly suggest that we should stop banging on about stress to our young people in the media and perhaps in our schools.
How to get the balance right? To acknowledge and support people in stressful situations without leading them to view it as more stressful than they might have before!