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Chris Taylor. The court
currently has a 4 to 3

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Liberal majority. The world
is an increasingly scary

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place. Political
assassinations, mass

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shootings at schools,
churches and on the street.

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Even though some of the
violence is close to home,

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the sense is it won't
happen to me. But that's

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what survivors often say.
And how are people to make

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their way in the face of it?
We ask Sidney

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Timmer-Murillo, assistant
professor at the Medical

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College of Wisconsin and
psychologist treating

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trauma and traumatic injury.
And thanks for being here.

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>> Thank you.
>> So is there such a thing

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as collective trauma, where
people generally feel a

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sense of foreboding in the
current climate?

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>> Yeah, absolutely. I
think especially with the

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frequency that we're seeing
violence and such highly

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broadcasted events of
violence, we can absolutely,

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as humans feel the weight
of so much profound trauma.

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>> So watching the the
deadly mayhem of the fire

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and church shooting in
Michigan was so much. And

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then it's on endless loop
in social media. How much

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does that endless loop wear
on people?

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>> Yeah, we know that the
frequency of how much you

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see trauma or experience
trauma, so that repetition

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of violence really can
impact somebody quite

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significantly. And it's
normal for them to then

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start to experience anxiety
or fear or really a threat

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to their sense of safety.
Even if it wasn't you who

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experienced the violence
per se.

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>> How injurious is this
exposure in people's day to

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day lives, perhaps
especially children and

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young adults, things they
>> Yeah.

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>> So, you know, everybody
is different. We can see a

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range of different
reactions from an

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understandable spike in
your emotion when you first

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see that violent event, but
it can grow and really

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build a cascade into mental
health concerns or mental

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health diagnoses. And so an
individual, you know,

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especially kids and
children and adults, when

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they're trying to make
sense of it, it can really

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start to shape your
worldview. And whether or

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not you feel safe operating
in the world. So maybe you

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start to avoid certain
things that used to be

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normal for you. It might be
difficult for you to go to

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work or go to school.
>> And so the shock of

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assassinations and school
shootings is is obviously

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so deeply disturbing.
Should people not directly

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involved sit with that or
move along?

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>> Yeah, we would encourage
that. You know, you can't

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necessarily always escape
the bad things happening in

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life or, or media and you
want to be informed, but

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it's definitely important
to take breaks. I would

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argue that, you know,
taking those social media

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breaks and really making
sure you're engaged with

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your day to day life, your
loved ones and family can

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really keep you grounded
when navigating so much

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tension in this world.
>> How does trauma affect

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people who have experienced
it?

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>> What we know from the
research is that if you

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have a history of trauma
that puts you at greater

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risk of developing
psychopathology after any

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subsequent types of trauma.
And so if you, let's say,

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even we're in like a motor
vehicle collision, and then

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now you're dealing with new
exposures to violence, it

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does tend to put you at a
greater risk. Or it's

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something that I would be
looking out for when I'm

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trying to help treat
somebody for, let's say,

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post-traumatic stress
disorder or depression.

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>> So it really.
>> In what feels like a

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violent world and is is the
practice of trauma

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treatment a growing field?
>> Absolutely. Yeah. I

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think, you know, a majority
of people will experience

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at least one trauma in
their lifetime. But we know

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that a lot of people can
are at risk for more than

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just one traumatic
experience, or they live in

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communities with high rates
of violence. And so because

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of that, you know, I think
mental health providers

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really do need to be
prepared for addressing

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trauma in whatever they're
doing with their patients.

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But we are definitely
growing in terms of

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specializations as well,
that we need these

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providers to really be able
to hone in on the root of

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somebody's trauma reactions,
and that tends to need some

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pretty specialized
treatment to to be able to

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do that effectively.
>> What makes someone

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resilient to trauma?
>> Yeah.

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You know, I think it is
important to remember that

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there is resilience in the
face of trauma. And there

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are so many things that can
contribute to that. There

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can be individual factors.
So how you regulate your

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emotions in the face of
fear and threat to your

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safety. But I also think
social support is such a

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profoundly important
resilience factor, really

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connecting to your loved
ones. When you have been

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exposed to violence, it's
so critical for trying to

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move forward and cope with
move forward and cope with