Checkup Denver: Facing trauma after STEM shooting, generic drug lawsuit and other Colorado health news – The Denver Post


Dear readers,

I know. It’s Monday, not Friday. But I decided to wait until today to send you a newsletter so I can highlight stories my colleagues and I have written about the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting, in which one student died and eight others were injured.

The incident at STEM is just the latest school shooting to occur in the metro area in recent years. An analysis by The Denver Post found that since 1999, there have been more school shootings, per million people, in the Denver metropolitan statistical area than any of the nation’s 24 other largest metro areas.

Parents pick up their children at the Highlands Ranch Recreation Center at Northridge after the shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 7, 2019. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson / The Denver Post)

In the days after STEM became the site of the most recent school shooting, students, parents and the community will have to face the trauma of the tragedy.

Experts say such events can make children — and adults — feel unsafe. It can also disrupt their sleep, cause anxiety, and, in some cases, lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

The frequency in which shootings, threats and lockdowns occur can also weigh on people, making them feel hopeless, mental health experts said.

After a shooting or a threat, parents should listen and talk to their children about what happened. Students also need support to grieve and process trauma on their own terms, experts say.

Read more here.

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Have a story tip or other feedback? Email me at jseaman@denverpost.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at @JessicaSeaman. And don’t forget to become a subscriber to The Post!

See you in two weeks — Jessica

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