{"id":773102,"date":"2026-07-01T10:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773102\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T10:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:35:17","slug":"anxiety-is-normal-after-montreal-shooting-mental-health-experts-say-heres-how-to-move-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773102\/","title":{"rendered":"Anxiety is normal after Montreal shooting, mental health experts say. Here’s how to move forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s normal to feel anxious in the aftermath of a traumatic event like last week\u2019s shooting in Montreal<\/a>, mental health experts say. <\/p>\n

A police officer, an innocent bystander and a suspect were killed on June 22 after a gunman who apparently adhered to incel ideology<\/a> opened fire on de Courtrai Ave. in C\u00f4te-des-Neiges in broad daylight. Montreal psychologists say widely publicized acts of violence can increase anxiety when they occur close to home because they disrupt one\u2019s sense of safety by making an unlikely scenario feel much more likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is this is not a situation that we see every day \u2014 not at all, especially not in Montreal,\u201d said Vanessa Delisle, crisis psychologist at St-Mary\u2019s Hospital and founder of Bridge Mental Health Services in Westmount. \u201cMany of us, in response to that, probably feel a threat to our life in some way, shape, or form. It\u2019s out of the ordinary, and our brain doesn\u2019t know how to process it. What ends up happening is the memories just kind of stay at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VanessaVanessa Delisle, a crisis psychologist at St. Mary\u2019s Hospital. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette files<\/p>\n

For some, that can translate into symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, and avoidance. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of that is normal in the context of this just happening,\u201d Delisle said. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to normalize the reaction to move forward, said Rachel Langevin, psychologist and associate professor at McGill University in the counselling psychology program. She warned there\u2019s a difference, however, between making space for the emotions and spiralling. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you notice that you\u2019re starting to ruminate, or forming scenarios of \u2018Oh my God, this might happen again, I might be caught in this or someone I love might be caught in this,\u2019 it\u2019s important to find ways to cut it short,\u201d Langevin said. \u201cThinking about something else, going for a walk, listening to music, watching a TV show might be ways to try to put aside these unhelpful thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

She suggested turning to \u201cany ways we know work well for us to regulate our emotions,\u201d and advised against changing habits, which could make the feelings linger longer. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome people might tend to \u2026 change the way they navigate the city,\u201d Langevin said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to keep living your life the way you used to live it, because otherwise you\u2019re starting to avoid, and avoidance is a very important mechanism that entertains anxiety and maintains anxiety instead of helping it pass.\u201d <\/p>\n

Delisle added that it\u2019s important to stick to basic routines, talk to people, and get support. <\/p>\n

\u201cSocial support is your most crucial protective factor,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

In an era during which horrific events are shared widely online, it can also be helpful to limit exposure to such content, the experts said. That includes videos \u2014\u00a0like the one depicting the deaths of the officer and the bystander<\/a> shared widely online following the shooting \u2014 and media coverage more generally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone came to me with this problem for treatment, one of the first things I would say to them is stop looking,\u201d said Marilyn Fitzpatrick, psychologist and emerita professor at McGill. \u201cYou know what happened. \u2026 You don\u2019t need to watch it 53 times. You don\u2019t need to read everyone and their brother\u2019s commentary about it.\u00a0This is not useful. This is not in the realm of information that we need in order to navigate the world.\u00a0We don\u2019t need to see upsetting things over and over and over again.\u201d <\/p>\n

Repeated exposure can make the threat feel exaggerated, Fitzpatrick explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe stories we tell ourselves seem true or not true based on repetition,\u201d she said. \u201cThe more often we tell ourselves something, the more true it seems.\u201d <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re feeling unsafe in the city in the aftermath of the shooting, she recommends paying attention to \u201cthe story we tell ourselves about safety.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe story I tell myself about Montreal is: it\u2019s a relatively safe place, as cities go. It\u2019s not the safest place in the world, probably, but it\u2019s certainly not the most unsafe,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cWatch your mind at work and if you catch yourself repeating a really bad story to yourself, just ask the question: \u2018How true is this and how helpful is it?’\u201d <\/p>\n

kthomas@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s normal to feel anxious in the aftermath of a traumatic event like last week\u2019s shooting in Montreal,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-773102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}