A search for mental health answers amid the trauma of Tumbler Ridge shootings
Global News
The superintendent of the Peace River South school district has said students were not expected to return to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
The metal-clad portable classrooms are arranged in a semicircle on a snowy sports field at Tumbler Ridge Elementary.
It’s a 15-minute walk from the community’s secondary school, where five students and a teacher’s aide were shot dead about three weeks ago and B.C.’s infrastructure minister calls the new buildings “an important step toward restoring routine & connection for students & staff” of the secondary school.
While some mental health experts say they understand the “knee-jerk reaction” to move the students, they warn of risks associated with “avoidance” and the unintended long-term impacts that may ensue.
Dr. Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist and the founding director of the Stress, Trauma and Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne State University in Michigan, said there is a high likelihood of PTSD, depression or anxiety in the aftermath of such an event.
He said his research into childhood trauma shows PTSD does not always fade with time and can have ripple effects such as substance abuse or social anxiety that will need long-term interventions.
“Trauma at this level needs experts,” Javanbakht said in an interview. “It’s good to have experts available to screen these kids, find out who is impacted and then address it, offer the treatment and therapies when needed.”
He noted that PTSD often triggers avoidance, especially of locations where the trauma occurred. That, he said, should be prevented if possible.
Christy Fennell, the superintendent of the Peace River South school district, said in a letter to families on Feb. 13, just three days after the shootings, that students were not expected to return to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
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