Post by LadyBlue on Mar 8, 2012 18:41:44 GMT -5
About ten percent of students at schools involved in two deadly school shooting incidents in recent years continue to suffer from the trauma of the events, according to a study published Thursday.
The National Institute for Health and Welfare THL conducted a study over two years on the students exposed to school shootings that took place in Jokela in 2007 and Kauhajoki in 2008. The report shows that the majority of students appear to have recovered from the traumatic experience.
However, the study also shows that about ten percent of the students continued to suffer psychiatric symptoms two years after shootings at their schools and will require psychiatric care over a number of years.
The effects of trauma were found to include sleep disorders, repeated nightmares, and memory loss about events related to the incidents, emotional numbness, and irritability. Experts advised continued professional therapy for these young people.
It was also found that consuming news coverage of the shootings had a detrimental impact on some of the students.
In their summary, the researchers at the National Institute for Health and Welfare who carried out the study suggest that those still suffering from the effects of the school shootings be guaranteed access to long-term counseling. They also say that adults involved in free-time activities with young people should encourage them not to confide any lingering anxieties only to their peers.
www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2012/03/follow_up_school_shooting_trauma_can_last_years_3317877.html