Explore APA resources for coping with shootings

News reports about shootings in communities around the world can cause stress and anxiety for people, leaving them with questions about the causes of and ways to prevent gun violence.

APA offers tools and guidance to help those who are suffering distress:

• Managing your distress in the aftermath of a shooting
  Taking the steps in this guide can help you cope during this very difficult time.
• Helping your children manage distress in the aftermath of a shooting
  Parents can struggle with how to talk with children about a shooting. Here are ways to help you have those conversations with children of all ages.
• How to talk to children about difficult news
  Tips for parents and other caregivers on how to guide the conversation in a proactive and supportive way.
• Talking to kids when they need help
  How to open the lines of communication and build trust.
• Stress of mass shootings causing cascade of collective traumas
  The regularity of mass shootings is razing Americans’ mental health—heightening stress and dulling compassion in ways that demand broader concern, engagement, and change.
• Empowering communities to prevent mass shootings
  Psychology research is informing new strategies to reach people at risk of committing a violent act.

Learn more about gun violence and prevention:

• Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention, and Policy
  Written by a task force composed of psychologists and other researchers, the report synthesizes the available science on the complex underpinnings of gun violence, from gender and culture to gun policies and prevention strategies.
• Gun violence prevention
  Research shows gun violence affects society in many ways, including higher medical costs, reductions in quality of life because of fear of gun violence, and stresses on the criminal justice system.

Coping is hard. You don’t have to do it alone. Visit APA’s Psychologist Locatoropens in new window or reach out to your state psychological association to find a psychologist in your area.