Mass shootings create ripple effect on community mental health

For parents, children, educators, and first-responders, the toll of both mass shootings themselves and the worry of future violence is having a lasting impact on mental health.
Not all impacts can be easily measured, said EMDR-certified trauma therapist Bonnie Rumilly, LCSW, EMT, who provided support in Connecticut following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
“Anxiety and depression rates are up, but I think there are also a lot of undiagnosed trauma symptoms going around in the population, children and adolescents in particular,” she said. “When children tell their parents they can't sleep at night, or that they are having in...