Newswise — Experts in grieving and post-traumatic stress disorder are available as sources for media covering the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech.
Thomas T. Frantz, Ph.D.Professor and Chair of CounselingUniversity at Buffalo
In a situation like yesterday's shootings at Virginia Tech, the main emotion is fear, says Frantz , author of "Death and Grief in the Family."
The students need as much psychological and physical security as possible, Franz says.
The best support for students right now is each other, he adds. "The campus needs to encourage meetings, sessions in dorms, to allow students to talk about it. If classes are being held, professors should talk about it at least during the first part of class so people can feel support from each other."
"A lot of people will be in shock and will be hard to reach emotionally. It's important to be present for those people, especially those who seem quiet or withdrawn, but not necessarily with a lot of words. Just be present physically. People in shock may not be ready to talk yet."
"Later, the grieving process will start. Some people will feel guilt, anger. All these emotions need a chance to come out. Students will need to have to opportunity to talk and they need to be told it's OK to cry, it's OK to be angry."
Frantz says a complicating factor in the healing process will be "secondary grief." Anybody on campus with a grief issue " feelings they haven't resolved about their parents divorce, the death of a grandparent, breaking up with a girlfriend " all that will be retriggered, "so there will be a lot of grief on campus beyond the death of so many people. The campus is going to be more full than usual with people feeling a lot of grief."
A long road to getting back to "normal" at Virginia Tech, says PTSD expert
Nancy SmythProfessor and Dean School of Social WorkUniversity at Buffalo
Professor Nancy Smyth, a nationally recognized expert on acute stress syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, says the first issue to be addressed at Virginia Tech is the feeling that the college campus is no longer a safe place. "What's important right now is for people to connect and to feel a sense of safety. The students probably don't even know who has been killed or injured. There has to be a recognition that things aren't going to proceed normally."
"It's important to let people deal with their feelings within their community, whether it's their dorm or classroom. People will need to look at ways to bring meaning to the information about what has happened." she said. There need to be opportunities for people to talk about the tragedy if they want. Not everyone will want to talk about it. People will need to deal with their feelings in ways that are right for them."
In the short term, "there will have to be a balance between creating a sense of community and recognizing the tragedy, and knowing when it's time to try to resume some sense of normality and getting back to the routine."
As students try to get back to their normal routine, there will need to be a recognition that this doesn't end the process, she added. "Things won't feel the same as they did before the shootings, but at the same time, it will help if people start getting back to their normal routines."
As time progresses, there is going to be a need for a lot of individual assessment. "People will be differently affected by where they were physically when the shootings occurred and whether they knew any of the individuals involved," Smyth said.
Stress symptoms, she noted, will be kicking in over the next few days and are likely to get worse over the next couple of weeks. "Right not people are still digesting what has just happened. There will need to be an awareness as the things proceed of who is having a problem adjusting, who is having nightmares."
"We all walk around with a sense of safety that is really an illusion. What we need to understand is that this could have happened anywhere, and that's a scary thing to consider. Obviously, this affects the entire country. This tragedy is a wake-up call to all of us to think about these incidents and what can happen at any time."
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