The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group, defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter.
There have been about 300 mass shootings in the year 2022 in the United States. The number of mass shootings keeps increasing every month so far. On June 26 Mass Shooting Tracker reported the latest mass shooting happened in Sutherlin, Virginia with one person dead and seven individuals injured.
Graphic Source: From 31 May 2022
The increase of mass shootings does not only play a role in the victims but indirect victims as well. Indirect trauma can occur when hearing about a horrific event that has occurred or is occurring. This phenomenon can happen at any point in time however, can increase by media consumption.
Salma M. Abdalla and colleagues conducted a study researching media exposure and risk of post-traumatic stress disorder following a mass shooting event. The researchers stated “exposure to traditional media coverage of such events has been associated with higher burden of mental disorders, both among persons who were directly affected by the event, and in the general population”. In their findings they found, television coverage and social media use increased PTSD prevalence by 5.5% for indirect victims.
As sad as it is to say, mass shootings are not going away anytime soon. With that being said, the increase of mass media coverage will be more present as well. We all become victims of mass shootings at the end of day. We may not be there in person, but we see and feel the aftermath of the shooting.
