Mental Health, Gun Violence And Trauma Subjects Of Dulles Chamber Talk

DULLES, VA — Recent mass shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York have once again raised awareness of gun violence in the U.S.

The tragic events have not only reignited a familiar political debate across the country on how to stop such shootings, they've also raised the anxiety and stress levels of many Americans.

"All of these shootings have really shaken us to the core," said Dr. Suzanne Nixon, during a discussion about gun violence and mental health that took place Wednesday morning at the Dulles Marriott. "Who is not shaken by this? How do we wrap our heads around this? How do we understand this level of violence and this consistent level of violence? How do we cope with all our emotions and thoughts that are going to be swarming through our mind, swarming through our heart?"

Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted Wednesday's coffee and conversation event as a response to the mass recent shootings.

"Our chamber is focused on commerce, community and connections," said John Boylan, the chamber's interim president."It was an area that we saw as a crisis. Part of that is educating folks about what to be aware of in your home and in the workplace in order to keep people safe."

Nixon, who is a licensed professional counselor and marriage and family therapist, suggested that even though it's difficult to do, people must begin to have conversations about mental health in order to remove the stigma associated with it.

"A person with a mental health condition has an illness rooted in their biology," she said. "Most people don't think about that."

Mental illness could be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain or a genetic disposition, where a person is born with a gene that may be activated at birth or later in life. Whatever its origin, the biological nature of mental illness affects the psychology of an individual, who may also have unprocessed trauma from their life.

"Mentally ill people are not violent people," Nixon said. "There's a small number of mentally ill people who are violent towards others. Predominantly, this group of people are violent towards themselves. Death by suicide. That's what we really need to acknowledge."

Removing the stigma of mental illness and recognizing that a mentally ill person is more likely to harm themselves rather than others is the first step toward helping those who may be in crisis.

Studies have shown that successful people who came from marginalized communities or had a parent who was mentally ill, dangerous, violent or had an addiction were able to overcome their trauma because they had one person they could connect with, according to Nixon. Also, they had a sense of belonging.

"So, the antidote to this epidemic is really to create communities, to create hubs where people can connect talk, listen, and begin these conversations" about mental wellness, she said.

Nixon suggested that people begin treating their mental health like any other medical condition they would seek help for. It should be part of their regular wellness checks when visiting their doctor.

"You do a screening on anxiety, depression and stress," she said. "We know that stress is what provokes many times or triggers a mental illness, a pileup of stress or a traumatic event that is stressful. If we had doctors offices beginning to do the screenings, that would be a good start."

Hannah Flanders, director of social work at Dominion Hospital, has been getting a lot of questions from parents at her job and in private practice about how to talk to children about gun violence.

Her first piece of advice is to stick to the facts and also consider where your child is at developmentally.

"You wouldn't have the same conversation with your second grader that you have with your 12th grader," she said. "With younger kids, they're much more concrete, right? They may not necessarily already have an opinion formed about school shootings, or maybe they've overheard parents talk about it, or they've overheard teachers talk about it or they've seen these drills."

High school or middle school students, who are going to have greater access to social media or TV, will likely have formed an opinion on gun violence.

"A lot of times adults will talk about the shooting happening in this location and involved this many people. They don't necessarily need those types of details, but just saying, 'Yes, sometimes these really bad things do happen.'"

Also, it's important to reassure your children and let them know that they're safe and that you're there for them as a resource.

Wednesday's coffee and conversation event was the first in a series discussions about gun violence and mental wellness the chamber will hosting in the coming months. In July, the discussion will be about promoting mental wellness in the workforce. This will be followed by a luncheon in August. More information about this events is available on the chamber's website.