{"id":3016,"date":"2025-02-20T19:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T19:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2025-02-20T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T19:42:12","slug":"ayoob-post-shooting-trauma-realities-the-armory-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=3016","title":{"rendered":"Ayoob: Post-Shooting Trauma Realities – The Armory Life"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Massad Ayoob<\/a><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Massad Ayoob has been covering Post-Shooting Trauma in his classes both for police and armed citizens around the world, currently is teaching through Massad Ayoob Group<\/a> (MAG), and has been an expert witness for the courts in weapons- and homicide-related cases since 1979. He began debriefing gunfight survivors in 1972.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In the wake of a lawful self-defense shooting, the stress can be overwhelming. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>hose of us who are tasked with teaching armed self-defense would be remiss if we didn\u2019t inform our students of the potential emotional and sociological aftermath of having had to use deadly force. Unfortunately, due largely to misunderstanding, it has become one of the most controversial elements in the discipline of legitimate use of force.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin by dispelling a few myths.<\/p>\n

Myths Regarding the Use of Force<\/h2>\n

MYTH 1:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cSo-called post-shooting trauma is all about guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n

In decades of studying this matter, I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that the aftermath effects under discussion have little if anything to do with guilt, unless it actually was a bad judgment shooting. It\u2019s possibly not even your reaction to your having to act in self-defense so much as it\u2019s\u00a0your reaction to your society\u2019s reaction to your having done so.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Massad\n<\/picture>
A self-defense shooting may only take seconds, but the aftermath will last vastly longer. Image:\u00a0Gail Pepin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MYTH 2:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cOnly a neurotic would feel badly about killing a criminal!\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not what it\u2019s about. Today, more than ever, there are people who publicly badmouth anyone who has shot an attacker, even in the most righteous cases of self-defense. Often, lawsuits or even politically motivated criminal charges can be filed. People who\u2019ve been forced to defend themselves may be unfriended and shunned.<\/p>\n

MYTH 3:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cJust man up and get over it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Easier said than done. The shooting is generally over in seconds, while the legal aftermath can take months or years, and the emotional damage can last longer than that.<\/p>\n

Symptoms<\/h2>\n

Of the many known symptoms, two are most pervasive. One is\u00a0sleep disturbance<\/strong>, insomnia or interrupted sleep patterns largely due to the adrenaline dump of fight or flight response. Dr. Walter Gorski, the famed California police psychologist who may have been the first to define Post-Shooting Trauma (PST) as something distinct from generic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), named the other pervasive manifestation\u00a0Mark of Cain Syndrome<\/strong>, the realization that people are treating you differently after the incident. (Sociological, you can\u2019t do much to control it.)<\/p>\n

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Being depressed over something depressing is normal and not necessarily \u201cclinical depression.\u201d Image:\u00a0Gail Pepin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A study of officers in a large department who\u2019d shot people in the line of duty, published later by Force Science Institute, showed that 100% had experienced erratic sleep and\/or bad dreams, and perceived themselves to have been treated differently after the shooting.<\/p>\n

For the most part, severity varies with how people react. If it\u2019s seen by society as clear-cut self-defense, problems can be relatively minimal. However, if the circumstances are murky or have not been clearly established, you may be shunned and unfriended by some you know, and some of that hostility can spill over and land on your family.<\/p>\n

Even those who are recognized for saving innocent lives heroically can experience the Mark of Cain syndrome. They often notice that they\u2019re no longer identified as the good parent, the good neighbor, the skilled practitioner of their chosen profession because those things are subsumed by the new identity of \u201che or she who killed so and so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"alcohol\n<\/picture>
Beware of self-medication with alcohol or other substances. These are not sound or long-term solutions for trauma. Image:\u00a0Gail Pepin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other problems include\u00a0appetite disturbance<\/strong>, a two-sided coin that may include significant weight loss (\u201cWho can eat at a time like this?\u201d)\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0alarming weight gain for those overeating to compensate for unhappiness and stopping going to the gym because people keep asking about the incident.<\/p>\n

The above-mentioned Mark of Cain can lead to social isolation for self and family. Anxiety can become significant for both self and family. (\u201cIs the prosecutor going to charge me? Is the family of the deceased going to sue me? Are criminal acquaintances of the person I had to fatally shoot going to come after me and mine for revenge?\u201d).<\/p>\n

Depression often accompanies anxiety. Not clinical depression in the diagnostic sense, but the depression and anxiety any normal person would feel in a situation where they may be unfairly accused of wrongdoing as well as dealing with the stress of what happened.<\/p>\n

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Self-medication and substance abuse\u00a0<\/strong>are real risk in these situations. People who are hurt naturally reach for a crutch. Beware of pharmaceutical conflicts,\u00a0<\/strong>too. A psychiatrist may prescribe mood elevators, while the family doctor writes a scrip for tranquilizers or sleeping aids, and your buddies are saying \u201cLet\u2019s go drinkin\u2019 and get your mind off it for tonight.\u201d These things don\u2019t play well together.<\/p>\n

What Helps<\/h2>\n

Smart modern law enforcement provides psychological support for officers who\u2019ve been through shootings or other Critical Incidents. Some of the more forward-thinking agencies have been known to provide the same to crime victims who\u2019ve had to shoot perpetrators in self-defense.<\/p>\n

My psychologist friends warn me that the individual needs to pick their therapist carefully, because some in their profession think anyone who would carry a gun, let alone shoot someone in self-defense, must be at least a little off-kilter and perhaps a danger to society. Check around to see what union or fraternal organization represents local cops, and contact them and ask what psychologist they recommend for their own people after shootings. That\u2019s more likely to get you a therapist who understands this particular kind of case.<\/p>\n

\"medicating\n<\/picture>
In times of stress and crisis, be aware of conflicting medication issues. Image:\u00a0Gail Pepin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gorski spoke of \u201cinoculation effect\u201d: if you know a bad thing may happen, you won\u2019t be blindsided if it does. People handle any crisis of any kind better if they\u2019re prepared for it beforehand.<\/p>\n

When the prospect of criminal or civil trial enters the picture, the expense of same becomes a huge driver of depression and anxiety.\u00a0Get someone on your side beforehand.\u00a0<\/em>If you\u2019re a cop, join the union or fraternal organization that represents people on your job: they can absorb those massive legal fees better than you. As a private citizen, strongly consider joining a post-self-defense support group.<\/p>\n

I remember cases like the one in Omaha when a Marine combat vet tried to protect his father from assault during a riot, got jumped by one of the rioters who tried to choke and disarm him, and had to shoot that man. The police investigators and the prosecutor\u2019s office knew a justifiable homicide when they saw it, but a special prosecutor ram-rodded the case to an indictment. Fearing that the six-figure legal fees would bankrupt his family, that young Marine committed suicide.<\/p>\n

Whether or not this has happened to you or ever does, if you know a lot of cops or combat soldiers or armed citizens, you probably know someone who has had to cope with PST, or will, or may be doing so even now. Suggestions:\u00a0Don\u2019t ignore them.\u00a0<\/em>I\u2019ve lost count of how many sufferers who told me, \u201cAfter my incident, everyone abandoned me.\u201d When I sometimes got to the people they were talking about, I was always told \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to say to him\u201d or \u201cI thought he\u2019d want to be left alone at a time like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Professional therapy can help, so long as the therapist understands your situation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do<\/em>\u00a0touch bases with them, but don\u2019t ask about the event: you don\u2019t have legal confidentiality, and the discussion could come back to haunt you both in court. Instead, tell them how glad you are they survived a near-death experience. Offer to take them to dinner or a day at the beach. Let them know you still value them and you\u2019re in their corner.<\/p>\n

In Summary<\/h2>\n

The lawful use of lethal force in defense of self or other innocent parties is similar to what the practice of medicine calls \u201ctoxin-anti-toxin therapy\u201d: literally, poison against poison. There will be unpleasant side effects. If you are diagnosed with cancer, the treatment may involve radiation that damages some healthy tissue along with the malignancy, chemotherapy that is quite unpleasant to endure, or even surgical removal of body parts.<\/p>\n

Applying killing force to save innocent human life can have painful, even life-changing side effects, too. Those who are prepared to face it may suffer less than those who pretend that it can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Please be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the \u201cGo To Forum Thread\u201d link below to jump in!<\/em><\/p>\n

Join the Discussion<\/span><\/h5>\n

Go to forum thread<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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By Massad Ayoob Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0Massad Ayoob has been covering Post-Shooting Trauma in his classes both for police and armed citizens around the world, currently is teaching through Massad Ayoob Group (MAG), and has been an expert witness for the courts in weapons- and homicide-related cases since 1979. He began debriefing gunfight survivors in 1972. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}