Bradley William Stone, 35, is suspected of killing six people and wounding one today in Pennsylvania. According to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, all the victims have a “familial relationship” to the gunman, who reports say is a veteran.
According to the Burlington County Times, court records indicate Stone served with the Marines and the Marine Reserves from 2002 to 2011, which included a combat tour in Iraq in 2008. He was honorably discharged.
The records say he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was treated for it along with physical combat wounds in a hospital. He also continued to receive outpatient treatment for the disorder.
PTSD is often in the news – mentioned in connection with violent events or suicides, mostly of veterans, both in Canada and in the U.S. But what, exactly, is it and how do people get it?
PTSD is a mental illness
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, PTSD is a mental illness and, “involves exposure to trauma involving death or the threat of death, serious injury, or sexual violence.”
Symptoms include the person re-experiencing the event in nightmares, flashbacks or thoughts that seemingly come from nowhere, says the Association. Sufferers can feel startled easily, have trouble concentrating, become irritable, experience insomnia and feel like something terrible is about to happen to them.
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Are people suffering from PTSD more prone to violence?
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD say the disorder is associated with an increased risk of violence, but that individuals with PTSD are not dangerous and the majority of both veterans and non-veterans alike with it have never been violent.
“When other factors like alcohol and drug misuse, additional psychiatric disorders, or younger age are considered, the association between PTSD and violence is decreased,” according to the Veterans Affairs National Centre.
On Aug. 24, 2001, 306 people were flying from Toronto to Lisbon, when Air Transat Flight 236 lost all power while flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
Passengers were told to prepare for an ocean landing and were taught how to brace for impact. Luckily, the pilot was able to make an emergency landing on a nearby military base, saving all lives on board the flight.
A study based on the survivors and their stories demonstrates that memory plays a role in a person’s susceptibility to PTSD. Of the 15 passengers surveyed for the study, about half of them developed the disorder and research suggested that those who were able to remember external details and minute recollections were the ones who ended up with it.
READ MORE: Former Canadian Forces trauma nurse speaks out about PTSD
“People have different degrees of control over memory and this is normal. Some people have very efficient, special, targeted memory. Other people have less inhibition on their memory,” said Brian Levine, a senior scientist at Baycrest Health Sciences and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. “Those people who may have less control over memory were the ones who were more likely to develop PTSD.”
–With files from Carmen Chai.
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