War journalism leaves scars not only on the people directly impacted by violence but also on those sent to bear witness. Trey Yingst, Fox News chief foreign correspondent, carries the weight of those scars every day.
The smell of barbecue, for instance, triggers his PTSD—a haunting reminder of the burning bodies he witnessed after war exploded in Gaza in October 2023. For Yingst, the boundaries between everyday life and war zones blur, leaving him grappling with the psychological toll of his experiences.
“I try as much as possible to separate things in my mind, but that can be difficult,” Yingst told PEOPLE. His mind is quick to flash back to those traumatic scenes.
October 7, 2023, marked a brutal turning point as Hamas militants launched a devastating attack on Israel, killing over 1,400 people and taking hundreds hostage. That day, now infamously known as “Black Saturday,” is the focus of Yingst’s new book. The book serves not only as a detailed account of the horrors he witnessed but also as a means of processing the trauma he’s carried with him.
Yingst spent close to 200 days reporting on the war, describing the assignment as one of the most terrifying in his career. “We were in southern Israel on the morning of October 7 and witnessed the massacre firsthand. There were people that died in front of me,” he recalled. The aftermath was a horrifying landscape of lifeless bodies, a grim reminder of the toll that war takes not just on nations but on the souls caught in its violence.
In his decade-long career reporting on global conflict, Yingst has seen war’s ugliest face—and it’s left deep emotional wounds. The 31-year-old now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), haunted by nightmares and triggered by sights and smells that pull him back to the front lines.
“When you come back from a reporting assignment and you’re cleaning other people’s blood off the bottom of your boots… you don’t learn this in journalism school,” he explained, noting how even mundane things like a coffee stain can evoke painful memories.
Yingst also struggles with reintegration, the challenge of returning to “normal” life after such intense experiences. The disconnect between his work—documenting life-and-death situations—and social gatherings, like an upcoming wedding he’s attending, leaves him feeling profoundly isolated. “I’ve been focused on Gaza, military strikes, and civilian casualties. It’s hard to make small talk about the weather after that,” he said, illustrating how hard it is for war correspondents to slip back into everyday life.
Perhaps the most difficult part for Yingst is reconciling his own mental health struggles with the suffering he reports on. “I try to capture everything through an empathetic lens,” he said. He knows that if his mental health is impacted just by covering these stories, the people living through such hell must be experiencing far worse. It’s a sobering realization that adds even more weight to his role as a journalist.
His book Black Saturday serves as both a historical account of the October 7th massacre and a personal reflection on the psychological toll of war reporting. The book centers on the human experience, not just through his storytelling but also through the voices of others caught in the conflict. Yingst believes that stories like these, rooted in the experiences of those directly affected, help the world understand the full impact of war.
Though writing the book was therapeutic, Yingst admits it doesn’t erase the burden he carries. “You can’t escape,” he said, acknowledging how deeply the work infiltrates his life. But even with the hard days, he’s proud of how he’s learned to manage his mental health through therapy, meditation, physical activity, and sobriety, having given up alcohol in January 2023.
In a world where journalists are often on the frontlines of trauma, Yingst’s candidness about his mental health is refreshing and necessary. “There are healthier options,” he reminds others who might be struggling, advocating for self-care in the face of extreme stress.
Yingst’s story is a reminder of the personal cost of war reporting and the importance of mental health awareness, even for those who aren’t directly in the line of fire. His book Black Saturday, out October 1, shines a light not just on the brutality of war but also on the resilience needed to endure it.
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