Another school shooting, this time in Denver’s East High on Wednesday, brings forward the issue of maintaining mental health.
This shooting was one incident, but there have been different threats to the schools in Denver Public Schools for a long time, according to Kathi Fanning, a Licensed Professional Counselor and the director of training for the Center of Trauma and Resilience based in Denver.
The school district took a mental health day off Friday following the events from Wednesday — which included Discovery Link Camp sites for Discovery Link families as well as food pick-up locations.
Everyone will be impacted differently by an event like the East High shooting according to Sophie Schauermann, who holds a Masters of Social Work and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She's the founder and clinical director of Rooted Rhythm Therapy and Parent Coaching.
Children do not have a prefrontal cortex that is developed, Schauermann said. This is the frontal lobe of the brain responsible for executive functioning, which includes being able to think logically, rationalize what is happening, plan for the future and recognize what is real versus what is fantasy. That part of the brain is not fully developed until a person’s 20s and does not begin developing until the ages of two to four.
“But in a state of stress and trauma, none of us really have access to that executive functioning,” Schauermann said. “That kind of just goes out the window when we go right into the survival brain.”
When people perceive a threat to the nervous system, they go into a stress response that is equal to having a “tiger in front of us,” she said, because there is a need to act quickly. Energy will go to the extremities so the body can go into a flight, fight or freeze response and is the opposite of rest where the body can digest, think clearly and function normally.
When processing trauma, some may process it adaptively and not have classified post-traumatic stress and others will. Some of the behaviors that could identify post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include distortions in cognition and mood, re-experiencing trauma (such as nightmares or hallucinations), avoidance or hyper-arousal (symptoms that could look like an attention disorder, anxiety or aggression).
“We go into survival so that we can protect ourselves,” Schauermann said. “The problem is that for a lot of our nervous systems and our brains, once the threat is no longer there … we still are stuck in the trauma state and we feel like the threat is there even though it’s not.”
“It’s as if we’re looking at a garden hose and we’re thinking it’s a rattlesnake, no matter what, and our brains literally cannot rationalize the truth that this is a garden hose because we’re stuck in that trauma state,” Schauermann added.
Overall, many people — including children — are struggling with significant mental health issues that are going unseen, according to Schauermann. Some cases can lead to tragedies like school shootings. It is important for teachers and parents alike to process traumatic events so they can have internal safety for themselves to serve their kid’s needs in mental health support.
“It is important now more than ever that kids and teens are educated on mental health issues and feel like there are safe adults they can lean on that will meet them with loving support and healing opportunities (even when they are having scary and sometimes violent thoughts) versus fear and contraction that may lead them to more dangerous isolation,” Schauermann said in an email.
Parents should be able to hold space for their children so they can process what could be a wide range of mixed emotions and offer them validation and support, she said, adding parents should trust their children and process things the way they need to rather than impose their own agenda for how they think they should heal.
Parents will go through a lot of trauma as well when something like this happens, according to Fanning, so it is important to process it as well.
“I’m a parent, it’s about the scariest thing I can imagine,” Fanning said.
In the state of Colorado, you need to be 12-years or older to seek therapy without parental consent thanks to HB 19-1120, according to the National Law Review. However, Schauermann encouraged children up to 18 to get their parents to be involved in that care if possible. She recommended a form of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing or play therapy for those 12 and under.
Physical exercise is also a “magic pill” for trauma, according to Fanning. Going for a walk, working out and addressing where they feel the trauma in their body through aerobic exercise or yoga.
“Basically trying to regulate and get balance again for the physiological changes really requires moving a lot of moisture through your body,” Fanning said.
Resources:
- Colorado Crisis and Support Line 844-493-8255 or Text TALK to 38255
- National Suicide Hotline 800-273-8255
- Second Wind Fund 303-988-2645
- Trevor Project Hotline 866-488-7386
- Safe2Tell Colorado 877-542-7233
- I Matter Colorado imattercolorado.org
- Therapy Direct (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. only) www.wellpower.org/therapydirect/
- The Center for Trauma and Resilience 303-894-8000 (English) or 303-718-8289 (Español) traumahealth.org/
