How To protect Your Mental Health In An Era Of Gun Violence
I will not talk statistics or gory details here
We maybe placed in any corner of the world, gun violence happening in the farthest place from us will shake us up. Mass gun shootings will stir us more. An umpteen amount of gun rounds shot at school children will send even crazier shivers down our spine.
We are just being human. We are getting fearful, anxious, angry, speculative and introspective at the same time. Some of us are more sensitive, so are probably getting affected more than others. It’s ok, no two people can have the same level of impact on their minds.
“Increasing the strength of our minds is the only way to reduce the difficulty of life.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Direct Victims
There are the ones who have been a direct victim and survived. God be with them. It’s the worst of traumas to have been hit with. PTSD, anxiety, depression, paranoia or even a complete nervous breakdown maybe one of the consequences of it. They would require support from their families, friends and communities to come out of it. This base level support cannot be assumed that it’s there, it has to be made sure it’s there in a solid, tangible way. They will need a psych consult from time to time. A certain level of supportive therapy in the form of bio-feedback and JPMR(Jacobsons progressive muscular relaxation) relaxation techniques must be started right away. They will have to be encouraged to join support groups for victims of gun violence. It’s going to be a long drawn, consistent and spaced out long term psychotherapeutic support. We should never assume their trauma or shock is just going to wear off on its own. They are going to require working through it.
Family or friends who have lost their loved ones
They are a case of collateral damage. They are left alone to deal with the mishap. Their loved one’s massacred. They probably require more mental health support than the logistical one in the form of a case being registered or the attacker being identified. Family, friends, colleagues and neighbours should all come out and encourage them to reach out for support, majorly emotional support. They need to have one or two people with whom they connect to do catharsis and be able to talk about the tragedy that has befallen them. Never leave them to nurse their deep emotional pain on their own. They are capable of living a functional life and may seem all ok from the outside. But they are in shambles from the inside. Please be kind and find time to just sit and connect with them and get them to talk and share.
For the rest of mankind whose heard about the gun violence
We are affected too. Simply by reading about it. We don’t even have to have known the victims. We are impacted by it because we are all one big family and connected at some level, as fellow beings sharing this earth space. We, too, need mental health support to deal with this. More so we need some strategies to keep our mind feeling safe amidst this untoward mishap we are exposed to, even if virtually. We have to start by reading less about it. Trust me, we are not Sherlock Holmes and no one needs our help to solve the killing. We can immediately stop the trauma of playing the incident in our head by not revisiting the news around it. Social media feeds for the next few days are not going to let us live this down. Abstain from searching this or constantly looking at notifications around this. Keep away from discussions , remember again, you are not the detective assigned here. Pray, go for a run, connect with friends, take on another work assignment….anything that get’s your head off the unfortunate happening.
All you are doing by the above is keeping your mental peace and calmness. You are not being insensitive. You were over sensitised and suffering. And it was not helping gun culture to change or the violence to unhappen . You can have opinions around what’s happening with shootouts and voice them on platforms that will help create a change around gun ownership laws and safety. But if you are going down in the dumps thinking and talking about it, you have to quit. Else, you are taking many other’s down with you, your family and friends who in turn are not able to put this behind them and have to show solidarity with you on this.
It’s sad but true that gun violence is now very prevalent. What we can best do is not bow down to it by offering our mental health at its alter. Instead let’s join hands in building mentally swell communities where support to the vulnerable groups is given in time, with consistency and in the best way.
Mentally healthy individuals are the cornerstone for strong communities that don’t harbour violence.
Stay strong. Stay mentally well.
“But no matter how much evil I see, I think it’s important for everyone to understand that there is much more light than darkness.” ― Robert Uttaro
