Parkland, Newtown suicides highlight trauma after U.S. mass shootings

The apparent suicides of two students from a high school in Parkland, Florida that saw a horrific shooting last year, as well as that of the father of a child killed in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, have shined a spotlight on post-traumatic stress disorder and how survivors cope with the aftermath of a mass shooting.

Florida police on Sunday said a student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) high school, whose identity was not disclosed, had died in "an apparent suicide."

This came a week after a former MSD student, 19-year-old Sydney Aiello, killed herself.

Aiello had survived the February 14, 2018 shooting that killed 17 students and staff at her high school, including one of her closest friends.

Now a university student, she suffered survivor's guilt and had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), her mother told CBS Miami.

Students return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, after the summer break, August 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

On Monday, police in Connecticut then said they had found the father of one of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting dead in his office.

"The death appears to be a suicide," Newtown police said in a statement.

Jeremy Richman's six-year-old daughter Avielle was among 20 children killed when a gunman opened fire at their school on December 14, 2012. Six staff were also killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

'Talk to your children'

The apparent suicides have prompted calls for better access to counseling and increased awareness of the potential signs of trauma.

In Parkland, school officials, parents, teachers and mental health experts held an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss how to better help survivors.

Local officials, law enforcement and other organizations have also shared details about suicide prevention hotlines, information sessions and counseling resources on Twitter.

Screenshot of Michael Udine's Twitter feed. /CGTN

Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky and Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine tweeted a list of questions to help determine whether somebody is at risk of committing suicide and urged:"Parents, please talk to your children. Students, talk to each other."

Parents need "to sit down with their children… to ask them if they have any thoughts of dying or any thoughts of suicide or hurting themselves," Sarah Franco, director of a new center in Parkland that will offer guidance and support, told NPR. "That is a conversation that has to happen."

In Connecticut, Newtown's Superintendant of Schools Lorrie Rodrigue also called for a rethink to see if more shouldn't be done to help survivors and victims' families. “We need to make sure we are really mindful and cognizant of the pain everyone has years later,” she told the daily Hartford Courant. “It really doesn't go away."

What's PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder, also commonly referred to as PTSD, has traditionally been associated with military personnel returning from a war zone –World War I, Vietnam or Iraq.

As early as 1994 however, academics looked at PTSD symptoms in civilians after a mass shooting.

A message and stuffed toys are pictured at a makeshift shrine after the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, December 15, 2012. /VCG Photo

Describing such events as "civilian combat-like experiences," experts at Washington University in St. Louis interviewed 136 survivors of a shooting in Killeen, Texas that left 23 dead and found that 20 percent of men and 36 percent of women "met criteria for PTSD." The majority had no prior history of psychiatric illness but PTSD put them at higher risk of major depression, concluded.

PTSD can include symptoms like nightmares, anxiety, headaches, and panic attacks. While this will not necessarily lead to thoughts of suicide, the risk is heightened, experts say.

"We have to recognize after an event like this there is trauma, anxiety and depression," Ryan Petty, the father of a 14-year-old student killed in Parkland and an active campaigner for greater safety in schools, told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper after Sunday's emergency meeting.

"We have students and staff that are still at risk," he said. "We have to educate parents and teachers to recognize the signs and ask the right questions."

'Infinitely heartbroken'

Aiello's mother told CBS that after the Parkland shooting her daughter was afraid of being in a classroom and she struggled to attend her university lectures but never sought help.

Richman, a 49-year-old neuroscientist, channeled his efforts towards violence prevention and with his wife set up a foundation – named after their daughter – to push for better research and treatment of mental health.

Jeremy Richman (C) and his wife Jennifer Hensel (L) attend the launch of Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit created in response to the 2012 shooting that killed their six-year-old daughter, in Newtown, Connecticut, January 14, 2013. /VCG Photo

Early on however, he said that Avielle's death had left him "infinitely heartbroken."

The Sandy Hook shooting also continues to haunt Newtown: families of the children killed have been locked in a number of lawsuits over the massacre.

Earlier this month, they scored a small victory when Connecticut's Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit against gunmaker Remington Arms to go ahead. But parents, including Richman, have also been involved in a defamation case against Alex Jones, a firebrand radio show host, who has claimed the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax and never happened.

In on Monday, Richman's Avielle Foundation said: "Our hearts are shattered and our heads are struggling to comprehend."

"Jeremy was deeply devoted to supporting research into brain abnormalities… and to promoting brain health. Tragically, his death speaks to how insidious and formidable a challenge brain health can be and how critical it is for all of us to seek help for ourselves, our loved ones, and anyone who we suspect may be in need."

(Cover picture: Two young women embrace after placing flowers on a makeshift memorial for the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, February 15, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(CGTN)