It’s real — bullies will notice and take advantage, lives will get warped
by Eric Jackson
It makes for compelling television. Videos and stills of people fleeing in terror from the latest mass shooting.
However, these spectacular events are but a tiny corner of the enormous reality of gun violence and the wake it leaves among the people amidst whom it has passed. In the USA, most firearms deaths are suicides, often accompanied by assaults to drive away anyone who might intervene. Then consider why the law makes armed robbery such an aggravated crime, far more than mere theft but the pointing of a weapon that in that instant leaves the victim uncertain of living to see the next instant.
The worst journalism treats it as ‘Bang Bang You’re Dead’ and those unpunctured by bullets are not counted. The worst politics deny funds to those who would study the depth and breadth of gun violence’s effects — the gun sellers don’t want people to know.
Click on these links, read what’s there, and begin to understand. Or perhaps you have survived and DO know, yet might know better from a more systematic and scientific framework.
https://www.ncoa.org/article/older-adult-and-gun-violence-trauma-tips-for-the-aging-network
https://www.asanet.org/footnotes-article/society-survivors-survivor-society-examining-gun-trauma-us/
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/my-experience-with-trauma-after-being-held-at-gunpoint
at https://www.verywellmind.com/shooting-ptsd-from-a-shooting-2797200# :
PTSD Symptoms That May Arise Following a Shooting
In the aftermath of a shooting, a person may experience a number of symptoms that would be considered part of an acute stress disorder response (or if they persist beyond one month, a PTSD response). Some of these symptoms may include:
• Frequent and intense nightmares about the event
• Intrusive thoughts or memories about the shooting that are easily triggered by things in your environment (for example, newspaper articles, television shows, movies, conversations about the shooting)
• Attempts to avoid situations or places that remind you of the shooting or places where you feel you could be in danger of experiencing a similar event again (for example, unfamiliar or crowded places)
• A high level of fear and anxiety upon hearing sounds that are similar to a gunshot, such as a car backfiring or fireworks
• Feeling constantly on edge or always on guard, almost as if there is danger lurking around every corner
• Having difficulties sleeping or staying asleep
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