Three Mental Health Experts on Dealing With Trauma
The tragedy that struck Virginia Tech this week set in motion a process of recovery and healing that has become painfully familiar in the aftermath of events like the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine, and September 11. U.S. News spoke separately with three mental health experts about what needs to be done to aid the survivors, their families, the community, and others who may have been traumatized by the shootings. They are David Schonfeld, director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Dr. Frank Ochberg, a psychiatrist at Michigan State University who was brought in as a consultant after the Columbine shootings in 1999 to work with the school district and the community; and Suzanne Silverstein, cofounder of the Psychological Trauma Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
What do these kids need most right now?
Schonfeld: First, they have to get their basic needs met. Do they feel safe? Do they have a place to eat and a place where they can sleep? Can they connect with their loved ones? That's what they need right away. Longer term, the school has to figure out how to normalize the environment on campus and also repair the natural support systems and buttress them. After a traumatic event, some people may start taking more risks; they may use alcohol and drugs. You need to start putting the support in to help minimize that. With adequate support, most people will start to cope and develop resiliency.
How can a community begin to come together in the aftermath of such a horrific event?
Ochberg: I have been really taken by the modern phenomenon of creating a memorial, with flowers and candles and pictures and other things. It is often one of the first responses and gives those in the community a way and a place to connect immediately and express their grief. These memorials also attract people from outside the community who want to show their support and leave tokens of concern and respect. That's very different from people coming in a voyeuristic way.
How might the shootings affect teenagers who are heading to college in the fall for the first time?
Silverstein: You have two kinds of kids: those who are mature and ready to go to college and move away and those who are ready academically but are not emotionally prepared to leave home. For those kids, this will just raise their anxiety level 100 percent and probably their parents' anxiety, too. The important thing for students to remember is that there are a lot of colleges and universities in this country, and while this is a national tragedy, it is not a common event.
Is there something parents can do to calm students?
Silverstein: Parents with children away at school now can talk to them and try to build a comfort system for the child. Arrange for a friend or relative to take your child out to dinner once a week if someone is nearby, or visit him or her on campus. Find out what kinds of services the university has for students who might need help.
Does it help to encourage someone to talk about it even if he doesn't want to?
Schonfeld: If someone is impaired, you don't wait. If you're suicidal, drinking heavily, unable to concentrate or to sleep, we need to get you some help. Otherwise, you invite people to talk, but realize it's an invitation. And concentrating on the details of the tragedy generally isn't helpful. Studies have shown individuals who spend more time watching TV after a tragedy had more problems, not less. Repeatedly watching is not therapeutic.
What about people who say they don't need help because being upset or traumatized is a normal reaction to an event like this?
Schonfeld: That reinforces the stigma that goes with seeking mental health help. You'd never say that shock from massive blood loss is a normal reaction to an abnormal event and therefore shouldn't be treated. You want to normalize the idea of getting assistance.
Have we learned anything from Columbine about the best ways for communities to move forward?
Ochberg: One important thing we've learned is to resist forming judgments too early, especially when you don't have all the facts. What we're seeing in Virginia is Monday-morning quarterbacking. It is too early to be assigning blame. There's a danger that the myth will be laid down on Day 1 or Day 2, before the investigation takes place. This needlessly interferes with the school community's ability to cohere and recover.
Is there a role for the Internet in the healing process?
Ochberg: Yes. The Internet creates an opportunity for exchanging ideas and concerns. Lots of people become agoraphobic after tragedies like this. They don't leave their homes. The Internet provides them a source of community support and a place to exchange ideas.
Can you ever get over this kind of thing?
Schonfeld: These are life-changing events, and you never get your old life back. It changes your life forever, often in positive ways, and in many negative ways, too. But you can't go back. If you keep trying to do that, you won't go forward.