When a gunman opened fire this week in a grocery store next door to our Boulder sister campus, he added to a string of shootings that has put the state on an unwanted map. From the Columbine High School nightmare to the Aurora theater shootings, many Colorado residents and healthcare providers have seen such tragedies unfold before.
It doesn’t make it any easier. In fact, the collective effect of absorbing such horrific and senseless loss – 10 lives, including a police officer’s, were taken in the King Soopers rampage – can be even more devastating for providers and bystanders.
Are you experiencing stress, anxiety, sadness or other feelings in the wake of the tragedies? Please see our list of traumatic event resources and other support services.
We talked to our expert, Steven Berkowitz, MD, about the potential mental health fallout of the March 22 shooting. Berkowitz, a psychiatry professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, offered ways we can protect ourselves and our fellow community members during this time of mourning, which is compounded even more by an incredibly difficult year.