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Tip 2: Empower yourself

PTSD & TRAUMA
Effects of Gun Violence on Mental Health
Exposure to gun violence can leave you feeling shocked, fearful, and deeply unsafe.
It can also impact your long-term mental health. But there are ways to cope with
gun trauma and heal.
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Row of lockers in a school
By Sheldon Reid
How gun violence affects mental health
It's hard to ignore the barrage of news reports about gun violence. Heartbreaking
stories about mass shootings tend to grab headlines around the world. Then there
are incidents of gang violence, police shootings, and domestic violence involving
guns that can make you question how people can be so brutal. Meanwhile, accidents
that involve firearms highlight the consequences of irresponsible gun use.

These stories can be even more horrific when children or teens are involved and
young lives are cut short. In 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading
cause of death among children and adolescents in the United States. If you're a
parent, it’s understandable if you worry about sending your child off to school
each day.

Whether you’re directly involved in an incident of gun violence, you’re a witness

to a shooting, or simply hear about the events on the news, you can become
traumatized or develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Experiencing a shooting in person can be especially traumatic. It can leave you in

a state of shock and despair, overwhelming your nervous system and making you
anxious and hypervigilant. If you live in an area prone to gun violence, you may be
fearful or on edge every time you venture outside. Simply reading about mass
shootings and gun violence in the news can make it hard to focus at work or school.

Losing a loved one to gun violence can result in intense grief and anger,
especially if you believe politicians, officials, or law enforcement have let you
down. It’s also natural to feel frustrated when media and political figures try to
lay the blame for gun violence entirely on mental illness. This myth only further
stigmatizes people with mental health problems and, in many cases, distracts from
finding actionable solutions to the problem.

Whatever your experiences of gun violence, though, there are ways to cope with the
trauma, manage your fears, regain your emotional balance, and move on with your
life.

Disparities in exposure to gun violence

Shootings don’t affect all communities equally. People living in low-income areas
are more likely to suffer from gunshot wounds, while minorities are
disproportionately at risk of both fatal and nonfatal shootings. Inequalities and
discrimination in other areas of society, such as housing, health care, and
education may all be contributing factors.

The effects of gun violence on children

The trauma surrounding shootings can have harmful effects on developing minds.
Research shows that exposure to gun violence increases levels of withdrawal and
anger in children. It can also desensitize them to violence and prime them to
become violent themselves. Children don’t necessarily have to see the violence with
their own eyes. Just hearing about it through the media can shatter a child’s sense
of safety and affect their mental health.

One 2021 study found that kids and teens who lived within blocks of a shooting were
more likely to visit the ER for mental health reasons following the incident.
Symptoms like panic attacks and suicidal ideation were reported, and exposure to
multiple shootings increased the odds of a trip to hospital.

Exposure to gun violence can create a ripple effect that continues to impact
children throughout their lives. A study in 2020 revealed that living near shooting
incidents had an adverse effect on children’s academic performance. They also
suffered from increased dropout rates, depression, and learning difficulties.

Although this can all seem overwhelming, you don’t have to feel helpless. While
reducing gun violence requires a community effort, there are plenty of steps you
can take to protect your mental health after traumatic events unfold. You can also
help your children and other loved ones cope with the stress and difficult emotions
in the aftermath of violence.

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Signs that you’ve been traumatized by gun violence
High-stress events affect both the mind and the body. But not everyone reacts to
traumatic events in the same way, so there are many signs to look out for.

Even if you weren’t directly exposed to an incident of gun violence, you may still
experience some symptoms of traumatic stress. For example, if someone you know was
affected or if you viewed graphic news reports about a tragedy.

Physical symptoms
Following atraumatic event, your body can enter a state of hypervigilance and
anxiety, with symptoms such as chest tightness, dizziness, and rapid breathing. You
may also experience cold sweats, trembling, and aches and pains. Other physical
symptoms include:

Unfocused thoughts. It can be difficult to concentrate when your thoughts are

racing or fixated on a traumatic event. You might feel as if you’re constantly
searching for hidden dangers around you.

Changes in appetite. You may overeat or lose your appetite, which in turn can have
a negative effect on your energy levels and mood.

Changes in sleep patterns. Anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks can impact your
sleep quality, leading to oversleeping or daytime fatigue.

Emotional symptoms
Emotional symptoms of trauma can encompass all sorts of feelings, ranging from
numbness to despair to fury. There's no right or wrong way you should be feeling.
You may also feel:

Disbelief. You might be so shocked by gun violence that you deny the horror of what
happened.

Persistent fear. You may feel easily startled when you hear loud noises, or you
feel crippling anxiety when you’re in a place that reminds you of the violent
event.

Grief. Many people feel deep sadness following a shooting, especially if lives were
lost. However, you can also feel despair that safety measures failed or that
someone would even attempt to commit such an atrocity.
Helplessness. You may feel unsafe and unable to protect yourself or your loved ones
from future violence. You may even want to withdraw from society or take drastic
measures to shield your friends and family members from potential threats.

Anger. You might feel angry at the perpetrator, politicians for failing to provide
enough protection for citizens, or a higher power for not intervening.

Shame or guilt. Ruminating on ways you could have stopped the shooter or blaming
yourself for what happened are common reactions to gun violence. Some people even
experience survivor’s guilt, where you feel guilty for surviving an event that
claimed the lives of others.

Signs that your child has been traumatized by gun violence

As with adults, children can respond to traumatic stress in a variety of ways.
While the signs may be hard to spot in very young children not old enough to talk,
teens may react to their stress by lashing out at others. In children of any age,
feelings of distress can come and go in seemingly unpredictable waves.

Infants may cry and scream and be harder to soothe. Or they may seem more withdrawn
than usual and appear to freeze up in certain situations. You might notice changes
in their sleeping or eating habits as well. Young children may regress back to
habits such as sucking their thumb or bedwetting.

If your child is old enough to talk, they might experience nightmares or physical
ailments such as frequent stomach aches and headaches. They may have trouble with
schoolwork, seem to be moodier than usual, or withdraw from friends, family, and
hobbies.

While these symptoms can also occur in teens, they can also be accompanied by drug
and alcohol abuse and disruptive behavior at home or school. They may even
experience suicidal thoughts.

[Read: Trauma Care for Children and Adolescents]

For people of any age, gun violence can result in psychological and emotional
wounds that take time to heal. However, the following strategies can help you and
your loved ones cope with the traumatic stress and regain a sense of peace and
normalcy in your life.

Coping tip 1: Acknowledge difficult feelings

The trauma of being exposed to gun violence can evoke all sorts of unpleasant and
surprising emotions. You may feel a powerful sense of rage toward the shooter or
society, for example, or experience guilt and shame for not doing more to help. You
may even feel numb to the events altogether.

Know that all these reactions are normal, and accepting them is just part of the
healing process.

Be patient with yourself. Not everyone heals at the same pace. Don’t aim to speed
up the process or guilt yourself if symptoms seem to linger. If you lost someone to
gun violence, recognize that grief can be a long process. Give yourself time and
space to mourn.

[Read: Coping with Grief and Loss]

Connect with your emotions. Rather than suppress those feelings, acknowledge them
without judging them for being present or powerful. HelpGuide’s Emotional
Intelligence Toolkit can help you learn to manage even the most distressing
emotions.
Find healthy outlets. If your emotions feel overwhelming, look for ways to express
them in healthy ways. Consider opening up to a trusted friend or family member or
talking to a therapist. Or, if you’re not ready to share your feelings with someone
else, try writing down your thoughts in a journal.

Tip 2: Empower yourself

Whether you experience it firsthand or witness nonstop media coverage, exposure to
gun violence can make you feel helpless, believing there’s nothing you can do to
keep you or your loved ones safe. But there are positive actions you can take to
regain a sense of control:

Learn about the problem. Aim to gain a thorough understanding of the causes of
shootings and possible solutions. What factors inflame the problem? How do
different experts propose addressing the issue? What has historically helped curb
violence? What efforts have failed? Gun laws vary by location, so get familiar with
your local regulations as well.

Find ways to get involved. Push politicians or organizations to take steps to

address the problem. Work with local community or political groups, voice your
thoughts online, and be willing to have productive