Recent Suicides Reveal Lasting Impact Of Mass Shootings On Mental Health Of Survivors

Speaker 1: 00:00 Surviving tragedy is sometimes not enough to save a life. We found that out recently with the suicides of two survivors of the parkland school shooting and the apparent suicide of the father of a sandy hook massacre victim. The trauma of the incident, the impact of the loss and what people refer to as survivors. Guilt are often blamed for these tragedies, but that's not the whole story. According to my next guest, Dr Shiva Guide is a clinical psychologist at the San Diego Naval Medical Center. She's also a survivor of the route 91 harvest music festival shooting in Las Vegas. Dr Guide is the author of the new book, route 91 healing from mass violence and trauma. And Doctor God, welcome to the program. Thank you so much for having me. What kind of impact to these recent suicides by survivors have on you and the survivor community? Speaker 2: 00:53 Well, I, I feel that I can probably speak for the entire community. It's just absolutely devastating. And I think that these recent suicides really just highlight the fact that, uh, the loss of life spans well beyond the visible injuries, um, after mass violence or any kind of trauma. Um, the invisible injuries, which include trauma symptoms and other types of chronic psychiatric disorders like PTSD, mood, anxiety, symptoms or disorders have the potential to last far beyond the point where the news dies down. Are people who suffer this kind of trauma and loss, are they more likely to attempt suicide? Well, so I think it's really important that people understand that although they're, the majority of people who experience trauma do in fact recover. And, and it's a vast majority, but for some people who may have fewer resources or less resilience and certainly a history of trauma or depression or anxiety, um, one more trauma such as a mass violence event may compound on those preexisting issues. Speaker 2: 02:04 So that's what you see. Someone who already has these risk factors in place may therefore be more prone to suicide after a traumatic event. So mental illness is really complicated and I think that if we really want to understand the full extent of the issue, we have to have a comprehensive understanding of the science and of mental health and the science of the brain in the body. It's complex and I think that the really big question that this, all of these events, um, especially the mass violence events that get so much attention, what the question is that they beg, beg us is, are we doing enough? And my personal belief is that we're not. Have there been survivors that you've treated that you've been particularly concerned about? There have been over the years, but I have to say that I have never once in all my years of treating folks with Ptsd, trauma disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, even psychotic symptoms, I have not worried that they would become homicidal or engage in some sort of mass violence event. Speaker 2: 03:13 I have been chronically concerned about their safety with, towards themselves and very concerned that they might end their own life. Um, for that reason, I really teach my patients about the science. When they come to learn about that, they actually learned that the brain is the most important organ. I think I'm a little biased maybe, but I will tell you the brain runs the whole show and we can't neglect it, and when you approach mental illness in this fully informed, intelligent way and from this perspective, then the shame goes away and we can acknowledge that this is a health issue like any other health issue. There's no shame in having a sensitive brain. It just simply makes you a little more predisposed to experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms. It's not our fault, but it is our responsibility to ask for help and to educate ourselves on these issues just like it would be if somebody had diabetes or cancer that runs in the family or high blood pressure. Speaker 2: 04:14 Let me ask you something from someone on the outside looking in. Okay. It's almost inconceivable how people who know the deep pain of losing a loved one can kill themselves and inflict that pain on other people. How can the rest of us understand that? Oh, this is, this is such a great question and I think that the solution is simple, but I will tell you I think this really speaks to a much deeper problem. That is the reason for our current mental health crisis, which is the amount of stigma that is associated with mental illness. And so people decide to suffer in silence. And some of that is because we lack that understanding and unfortunately that can often be perpetuated even by providers, even by people in the field. And let's be honest, there are not too many doctors out there that would acknowledge openly that they suffer from mental illness and I know they're out there. Speaker 2: 05:18 I know some of them and if we, if we as providers in the fields of psychology and psychiatry aren't willing to acknowledge it, we're not leading by example. We are feeding back into this stigma about mental illness and whether it's a fear of job loss or reputation or how people were will perceive us. I think that we have far more that we can gain from being open and honest and authentic. Then we then we stand to lose. And as part of opening up this conversation, Dr Shiva Guide has written a book, route 91 healing from mass violence Speaker 1: 05:58 and trauma. She's a San Diego psychologist and Dr. Guide, thank you so much for speaking with us. Thank you so much for having me. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, please contact the San Diego access and crisis line at (888) 724-7240.