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MONTREAL - A landmark study looking at the psychological impact of a gunman's rampage at Montreal's Dawson college suggests nearly one-third of students surveyed suffered mental health problems in the aftermath.
The study, believed to be the first of its kind on the effect of school shootings, recommends that educational institutions be better prepared to handle such tragedies.
Nearly 1,000 Dawson College students and employees were interviewed in the project, conducted by researchers at McGill University and the Louis-H. Lafontaine psychiatric hospital.
"The goal was to obtain information to establish what would be required to provide psychological intervention — in the days after an event and then in the following months," said Pierre Bleau, a psychiatry professor at McGill University.
"I think that every school should be prepared (for the possibility) that something like that could happen in their milieu."
The study suggests that about 30 per cent of respondents experienced some psychological disorder, such as post-traumatic stress, alcohol abuse and depression.
Nearly one-third of respondents sought psychiatric help. Thirteen per cent consulted a professional, while another 14 per cent accessed mental-health information on the Internet.
The study was conducted over three years.
Seventy-nine per cent of those interviewed were at school during the shooting. One-third said they witnessed someone being wounded or killed by the shooter. Half heard gunshots and 52 per cent hid from the shooter.
Once the shootings were over, about 18 per cent developed some mental disorder after never having had one before in their lives. Others with pre-existing disorders apparently felt additional effects for up to 18 months.
Proximity to the event itself was a factor in the severity of the psychological impact.
"We set up a scale with which we could assess the degree of severity of exposure to the shooting," said Stephane Guay, a psychologist and researcher at Lafontaine hospital's Fernand-Seguin research centre.
"We could conclude the closer you were to the shooter (or the gunfire) . . . the more you were at risk at having post-traumatic stress reactions even 18 months after the shooting."
He said proximity to the tragedy also increased the likelihood of depression and substance abuse.
The mother of a teenager killed at Dawson said she hadn't finished reading the study Thursday. But she had some simple advice to offer survivors of such future tragedies: talk about it.
"I find talking helps," Louise De Sousa said.
"When you want to cry, you gotta cry, when you feel good, you feel good, you've just got to move on and having family and professional help around makes a very big difference."
Louise De Sousa's daughter, Anastasia, was killed in the shootout that injured over a dozen others.
While there have been 60 school shootings since the Columbine High School tragedy in 1999 there has, until now, been little research on the psychological impact and aftermath of such events.
Following the shootings at Dawson, officials at the school expressed a determination to learn something from the tragedy.
"The intensity of the trauma is so high that you're not really spontaneously open to that kind of investigation and questioning," said Dawson College director general Richard Filion.
"I think that this community has a long-standing tradition for research and I believe that it was what acted as a motivation that we should now turn this into a positive outcome."
On Sept. 13, 2006, Kimveer Gill stormed the school's downtown Montreal campus and opened fire.
One student, 18-year-old De Sousa, was killed, and many others were injured, before Gill turned the gun on himself.
The study's recommendations include creating crisis-management teams to deal with disasters at schools, and improving public education on mental illness to encourage people to seek help without feeling stigmatized.
The report also recommends better access to psychological help for those affected by a traumatic event.
Quebec Public Security Minister Robert Dutil said the provincial government has taken note of the recommendations and will review them before deciding whether to implement them.
For her part, Louise De Sousa says it's not a sign of weakness to seek help. She says she still has her ups and downs, as the fourth anniversary of the tragedy looms next Monday.
"It's not too late — often traumatic stress comes years after. If you don't feel good one day, go talk to someone," De Sousa said.
"There's nothing wrong with talking."
