Mass shooting means PTSD
A police officer talks to a woman at the Sandy Hook Elementary School after the mass shooting that left 20 children and 6 adult staff members dead.
The incident was the deadliest mass shooting at a high school or grade school in U.S. history and the second-deadliest mass shooting by a single person in U.S. history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.
Witnesses, first responders and members of the community at large are at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the worst mass killing in Calgary’s history, a local expert says.
The expert is referring to a recent incident where five young people were brutally murdered in front of a group of party goers.
In a recent article in The Edmonton Journal, Kris Rose, a psychology PhD who specializes in PTSD and its treatment, said the likelihood of symptoms of trauma is “over 90 per cent” for people involved in a tragedy like this one.
“It’s the brain’s response to, ‘I’m going to die or someone near me is going to die,’ ” Rose said. “It’s a very normal reaction.”
But Rose said it’s not only immediate witnesses who are at risk of an acute stress reaction. Friends, family members, the university community and members of the community at large are all at risk as the shock begins to sink in.
“Part of it is the age (of the victims),” Rose said. “The stuff with kids hits harder. These kids were supposed to be having the time of their lives … And instead, this will be remembered as one of Calgary’s darkest days.”
Rose said affected individuals will likely experience numbness, “spaciness,” or the sense that things around them aren’t real. Bad dreams and intrusive thoughts about the event are also likely.
Anyone experiencing such symptoms should reach out for help immediately, Rose said. The worst thing to do in a situation like this is to bottle your emotions.
“Pushing it away will make it worse. As difficult as it is to think and talk about it, it’s the best thing you can do,” he said.
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