How to manage anxiety from mass shootings.
Mass shootings are on the rise and so are peoples’ anxiety and fear. The news shows mass shooting after mass shooting and it is hard not to find yourself up late at night worrying. Rightfully so people are worried about everyday life such as going to the grocery store, going to school, and even going to a medical appointment. Hopefully this article can provide you with some information on why mass shootings cause anxiety and other mental health issues and how to manage anxiety related to mass shootings.
Mass Shootings are traumatic and stressful for everyone involved.
It goes without question that being at a mass shooting is traumatic. You are exposed to a life and death situation, and sadly an event where people do lose their life. The amount of terror that a person goes through when exposed to such an event leaves the body in a state of stress. Often people who experience a mass shooting will develop stress disorder, PTSD, anxiety, or depression- possible a combination. Oftentimes these individuals will need to seek the support of a trained mental health professional to be able to process the trauma that occurs.
It was once explained to me a while back from a professor, that trauma is like a big meal where you just ate way too much. You need to be able to digest this and take what you can from it (such as a deeper understanding of pain and human existence) and then let the rest of it pass and live on in your history and not continue to weigh you down in the process. Trauma has to be processed in one way or another, and there are definitely more favorable or healthier ways of doing so. Of course I am a fan of going to therapy, especially if you have experienced a trauma and particularly if you have experienced a mass shooting-even if it didn't directly happen to you.
You can also develop mental health issues from having a loved one go through this type of horrific event, regardless of if they are one of the lucky ones to make it out alive. Humans are not meant to undergo this type of stress over and over again. That is why mass shootings are particularly damaging to one’s mental health. All of us are already exposed to the reality of where we are right now with gun violence. It is all over the news, frequently talked about, and just about everyone knows someone who has been involved or near one. Even more so you can develop extreme stress from just exposure to the mass shooting news day after day.
I have my own experience with being close to a mass shooting. I was a student at California Lutheran University when the “Borderline Shooting” in Thousand Oaks, California happened. It was hard to focus on work and school, and I was lucky to not even be at the venue where it occurred. But it was a frequent spot for college students to go. I still remember my mother frantically on the phone with me, ensuring I was alright. The fear and pain in her voice, I am sure, is just a fraction of those mothers and fathers who have had to endure one of the hardest things there is, hearing about your child’s passing, while doing something as innocent as attending school.
What can I do to manage anxiety from mass shootings?
Limit your exposure
Talk about it, process it
Acceptance (please keep reading to see where I am coming from-because acceptance is NOT approval)
What can I do to manage anxiety from mass shootings?
One important thing that you can do to help you cope with anxiety is to limit the exposure that you have to the news. Being informed is important but there is a fine line where being informed can lead to becoming irritated or even numb. And these feelings will find their ways into seeping into other areas of your life. Sometimes when the news is particularly bad but I need to stay informed about a topic, I will only read about it. For me I find that this helps. And I will endure that the news is followed by something lighter, like a quick garden video or something with cute dogs. This has been a game changer, especially after the last few months but even the last few years where the I have just found myself from time to time consuming way too much news.
Another thing to do is to talk about it to those you trust, friends, family, or a therapist. We are not meant to hold on to pain and suffer in silence. Odds are others feel the same fears and worries. I absolutely love when people bring in current events into their therapy sessions with me because I find that great therapeutic work can be done in the here and now regarding how someone reacts to world stressors. Oftentimes we did not have great examples on how to handle these extreme stressors and we are often faced with big questions about our existence as humans and life.
Lastly, the one that I think provides a greater base for healing is acceptance-and acceptance is NOT approval. Acceptance of the current situation is something that can help you deal with the anxiety without minimizing it. When we minimize it will only end up showing up in other forms. We might become distracted, tired, and have a whole range of body symptoms, since trauma and stress are held in the body. A huge disclaimer needs to be made: acceptance is not approval. Let me say that again, acceptance is not approval. We should not assume that it is acceptable that we fear doing life and that our kids fear going to school. But acceptance of reality is what can allow us to make change. It can motivate us to do what is within our control to create the reality we want. We can accept and tell ourselves okay now what am I going to do about this? Because this is not okay.