Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Karen Seidman, The Gazette SUBSTANCE ABUSE UP FOR DAWSON SURVIVORS The young men and women who witnessed a gunman opening fire at Dawson College in September 2006 found different ways of coping with the traumatic events of that day - and for some there was a newfound dependence on drugs and alcohol. According to research from a master's student at the Universite de Montreal, a significant percentage of survivors developed a drug or alcohol addiction in the 18 months after the shootings. Saying the numbers aren't alarming but point to another complication that deserves attention after a traumatic event, criminology student Natasha Dugal said she wanted to look at the consequences of school shootings and that her study offers a unique quantitative analysis of the link between addiction and traumatic events. Dugal found that in the 18 months following the tragedy, five per cent of females and seven per cent of males at the college found themselves with a dependence on alcohol or drugs for the first time in their lives. "It shows that following a traumatic event, substance abuse can be a problem and must be explored," said Dugal, noting that the addiction occurred even though Dawson handled the event well and provided lots of support to students. Her study was based on a survey of 948 students which was already the basis of a 2010 McGill University study measuring the impact of the tragedy on mental health. The study showed that 30 per cent of respondents had experienced a psychological disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and social phobia. Dugal said the proportion of addiction was significantly higher at Dawson post-shooting compared with the Canadian average. In 2002, Statistics Canada reported that 5.6 per cent of teens 15 to 19 and 8.6 per cent of young adults 20 to 24 suffered from addiction to drugs or alcohol. Among Dawson students in the survey, it was 13.4 per cent for males and 10 per cent for females. "There's definitely more risk for students following a traumatic event," said Dugal. Samantha Garritano was a student at Dawson on the day Kimveer Gill opened fire. She was in an art class on the same floor as the shootings and was barricaded in a classroom while gunshots could be heard. "I completely understand the anxiety and the need for any way of relieving it," she said in an interview. "It was terrifying and I'm still not comfortable in spaces where I can't see the exit." Now 22 and a photography student at Concordia University, she said the college did a good job of reestablishing a sense of community at the school. But even with the help of counselling, she has not fully recovered from the shooting. "I'll be somewhere crowded and I'll just get this overwhelming feeling that someone has a gun and I have to leave right away," she said. "It's my new normal." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.