Desensitized doesn't necessarily mean somebody doesn't have reactions to something. It just means they can compartmentalize those reactions and move forward and deal with the ramifications later.

EMTs, ER Doctors, and Nurses are largely desensitized to graphic trauma and can press through and get the job done. But that doesn't mean that they don't process those scenes later in both healthy and unhealthy ways (there's a few study out there that show ER staff have higher rates of alcoholism and substance abuse rates than the general public).

Tramua is trauma, whether you're desensitized or not.

It would be a highly unethical but interesting research to see if those people experience long-term consequences nevertheless. Or if being desensitizes really does give someone immunity.

Except, you know, we're talking people who are progressively desensitized to reality. So no, that's not comparable at all.

Exactly. If they couldn't tell the difference, then how could they know which content to seek out for their own enjoyment. It might not affect them much, if at all anymore, but they know what 'it' looks like.

Can you imagine them watching a cute cat video over and over and wondering why they aren't getting the rush they must feel when watching gore.

I remember in the early days of the internet, i clicked a link on a forum and ended up watching a video of some guy being decapitated. I have never forgotten that image, 20+ years later, and i know i would be checking into a mental hospital if i had the job these facebook staff have had to do. But there are people who like this sort of stuff, and its not because they have forgotten what decapitation looks like.