Aftermath – The Psychological Recovery Process Following Mass Shootings

Traumatic events like school shootings continue to rise and create hopelessness. The spike in community trauma has the potential to create secondary traumatic stress leading to serious mental health conditions like PTSD or ASD. Cleveland Clinic reports 6%-33% of those who live through a traumatic event will develop Acute Stress Disorder in the aftermath of the crisis.. These symptoms can cross all age groups after a community trauma, leaving many counselors overwhelmed about what how to prevent worsening psychological symptoms. What should a counselor do or say to help, especially in the immediate aftermath following a mass shooting?

Many practitioners are not trained in how to spot Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) which is a common psychological stress response after trauma. Symptoms can appear within three to thirty days of living through a traumatic event. Without early intervention some will experience self-destructive behavior since every day counts in the recovery process. Sadly, those who ignore these symptoms may experience worsening of their own mental health in the first few days and weeks post-crisis event. Symptoms in the aftermath of community crisis may include-anxiety, intense fear, or helplessness and difficulty concentrating; recurring traumatic memories or hypervigilance; persistent difficulty feeling positive emotions like happiness or love; chronic sleep loss; feeling numb; avoiding situations, places, or other reminders of the traumatic event, which is challenging for school or workplace mass shootings since students and employees often return to the same location where they experienced trauma. There are stages of rapid psychological intervention in the aftermath of a community crisis. Are you skilled at identifying the stages and creating a psychological response map for those directly exposed to traumatic stress so your community can heal?