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."
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.