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Bystanders who are witnesses to mass shootings through the media can experience declines in mental health.

When we are bystanders to mass tragedy, we need a community to heal.

Small strategies like maintaining a routine and doing something to help can improve resilience.

The experience of social efficacy comes later in the healing process, as we seek to make our community safe.

Canada’s worst school shooting happened on February 12 in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a small western community of 2,000. Eight are dead. A community is in mourning. A nation paused to remember those killed, as a few days later, leaders of the five major political parties in Canada all came together to offer their collective support to the community. They, like the entire population of Tumbler Ridge, and many others across Canada, were bystanders to a senseless act of violence.

While there are plenty of studies of how bystanders respond when they see violence (and how their actions can prevent violence), there is little research on the impact of living in proximity to (or watching online) a mass casualty event like a school shooting. One notable exception is a new study led by Aparna Soni at the Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University that uses Gallup's national survey data to show the effects on community well-being months after a mass shooting. That analysis included responses to questions about whether people continued to feel safe in their community (even when not residing in the same community as where the violence occurred) and whether they experienced any joy or happiness in the past 24 hours. The results show small but significant declines in people’s sense of community safety and happiness. Turns out that we are affected when we witness violence, even if that witnessing is done online.

How does one prevent this trauma when one is a bystander?

I recently had the opportunity to join Just Asking, a national CBC call-in show, to talk about this. Along with thanatology professor Darcy Harris from King's University in London, Ontario, we were introduced to bystanders and families of the victims of mass shootings. Host Saroja Coelho helped guide an emotional, healing conversation.

It is clear that people go numb after an event like this, then become dysregulated, angry, feel guilty, and a host of other emotions. Even the bystander many miles away risks being triggered by the violence, feeling emotionally shattered. As Harris explained, we can lose our sense of meaning. We can feel powerless. We are appalled at the shadow side of humanity.

We can also, must also, cope with these feelings. But we seldom do this alone. Grief is not an individual experience. It is best shared. And the antidote isn’t anger. It is to build something better. As people called in to the show and we chatted with other guests, it became clear that the bystander’s mental health needs to find a way to assert control over a world that can appear very uncontrollable. We need to reconnect with relationships that matter. We need most of all to feel like we can “do something” to make the situation better. We bring food to victims’ families (even if they will not eat); we raise money for others; and we co-regulate, as Harris explained. We are the emotional regulators for our neighbors and friends.

Resilience is also possible, but seldom is it achieved alone. I recall a colleague of mine, psychotherapist Jack Saul in New York City, recounting how he and his family lived in the shadow of the twin towers when they collapsed. The catastrophe of 9/11 smothered them in dust and a wave of trauma that affected everyone. The city and state authorities responded with access to psychological therapy, one-on-one, free and easily accessible. Jack and his community asked for less therapy and more opportunities to meet, as a community on their own. They wanted a safe space to talk and share. It was difficult, though, to get funding for this, even though the cost was so small and the impact promised to be so great for so many.

Bystanders can be horribly affected by a tragedy they are on the edges of. For those of us who are witnesses to terror, we need to remember that co-regulation is better than pursuing mental health alone. Routines, making a contribution to the welfare of others, and finding safe spaces are all strategies for resilience. Eventually, it will be time for political action, asking tough questions, and looking for social efficacy. These too are protective factors associated with resilience, but they are not the first step in the healing journey. The first step is more often standing next to others in the grocery store and talking to someone we’ve never spoken to before, checking in on each other, and together reaffirming our commitment to a better world.

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Soni, A., Tekin, E. (2025). How Do Mass Shootings Affect Community Well-Being? The Journal of Human Resources, 60(6), 1841–1880.

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