Most people who experience mass violence directly or through contact with affected colleagues or loved ones will recover. Strong reactions in the immediate aftermath do not mean you will have symptoms forever. People who were injured, have experienced prior trauma, lost someone they knew or were present when the violence happened are more likely to have long-term reactions.
Recovering may take time, and it may require you to learn how to adapt in new ways. What you need in the long term may differ from what helped you immediately after the event. Here are some strategies to help you continue to recover over time.
Strategies for managing ongoing distress
As time moves on, if you still feel distressed or have trouble functioning, it is important to continue with general self-care activities. You may also want to include some of the following strategies:
Safety. To lessen worries, it can help to stay focused on specific routines of day-to-day living and seek out positive ways that help you to increase your sense of safety.
Media viewing. Turn off the television and take a break from social media if watching coverage of the event increases your distress.
Problem-solving. Take an active, problem-solving approach to ongoing challenges by breaking problems into smaller chunks, coming up with creative solutions and planning for simple, achievable steps toward those solutions.
Positive activities scheduling. Try to engage in positive, healthy or meaningful activities, even if they are small, simple actions. Doing rewarding, meaningful or enjoyable things, even if you don’t feel like it, can make you feel better.
Offering support. Being supportive to others informally or through volunteer work may also be a way to find meaning. Helping others can also help you stay focused on something positive and build relationships with people who share your interests or values.
Managing emotions. Look for positive coping strategies that help you manage your emotions. Listening to music, exercising, practicing breathing routines, talking with others, spending time in nature or with pets, journaling or reading inspirational text are some simple ways to help manage overwhelming or distressing emotions.
Social support. Spend time with people who give you a sense of security, calm or happiness or those you feel you can support.
Helpful thinking. Ask yourself if your thoughts, especially those that are persistent and intrusive, are helpful to you right now. If you weigh the costs and benefits of holding on to negative thoughts or behaviors and find there are more costs than benefits, there are actions you can take. Try to find other thoughts that can break you out of that unproductive loop or that activate you towards more helpful thoughts or actions. You can also reframe or divert your attention by practicing simple strategies like focusing on something or someone else in your life, finding ways to accept what has happened, praying or practicing mindfulness.
Meaningfulness. Find meaningful ways to honor those who have suffered or were lost, either on your own or through contact with others. You can also shift your expectations about what is considered a “good day” and reconfirm the people, values and goals in your life that you realize are most important to you.
There is no standard timeline for recovering from an event as intense and potentially traumatic as mass violence. Depending on how close you were to the event, feeling better may take a long time. If you develop your own ways of adapting to ongoing events and situations, you may gain a stronger sense of being able to deal with challenges, a greater sense of meaning or purpose and an ability to mentor and support others in similar situations.
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
