JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local psychiatrist said he is already seeing the effects of the latest two mass shootings on people’s mental health.
For the last year, all eyes have been on the pandemic. But that does not mean mass shootings have gone away.
The nation was rocked by news of two deadly mass shootings in back-to-back weeks at massage parlors in Atlanta and a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.
Jacksonville psychiatrist Dr. Satyen Madkaiker said he had patients bring up the Colorado mass shooting the next day.
“As if we do not have enough -- we have so much going on -- and one more incident like this gets people really, really down,” Madkaiker said. “One of the things she said was I could just go to Publix, and I don’t know whether I’m safe there. These are the kind of anxieties that we have.”
The Congressional Research Service defines mass shootings as multiple firearm homicide incidents, involving four or more victims at one or more locations close to one another.
According to Gun Violence archive, in 2019, there were 417 mass shootings in the U.S.
In 2020, there we’re 611 reported mass shootings, and since Jan. 1 of this year, there have been 103 mass shootings -- 10 in Florida and three in Georgia.
While there were more mass shootings during the pandemic, they were less deadly.
A database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University found that 2020 had the smallest number of mass killings -- defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter -- in more than a decade
Madkaiker’s recommendation for anyone feeling anxious?
“As much as possible and within limits of course, and good precautions maintain that social contact with other people because I think we are social human beings and there’s no way we can live on our own and continue to function,” Madkaiker said.
Which means not letting fear keep you from living your daily life.