Gun violence causes lingering trauma for people in U.S.

(Cartoon by Ma Hongliang)

Since the beginning of 2023, at least 172 mass shootings have taken place in the U.S., and the number of deaths from gun-related incidents in the country has reached 13,497, according to data released by U.S. nonprofit organization Gun Violence Archive on April 27.

Frequent mass shootings and rampant gun violence incidents in the U.S. have not only posed a threat to people's security, but has caused trauma that is difficult to heal.

As mass shootings and gun-related deaths reach record levels in the U.S. and more communities reel from deadly mass shootings, there’s evidence that the trauma of gun violence in the U.S. is taking a collective toll on the nation’s mental health, said an article published on the website of CNN.

"Forty percent of 18- to 29-year-old Americans – a generation that grew up participating in active shooter drills from kindergarten on – are concerned about being a victim of gun violence or a mass shooting," said an article on the website of news magazine U.S. News & World Report, citing results of a comprehensive survey by Harvard University's Institute of Politics.

About a third are concerned about someone close to them becoming a victim of gun violence or a mass shooting, the article added.

The specter of gun violence is engulfing the entire American society. With gun violence seemingly an insurmountable problem, an underlying trauma continues to build, and group anxiety becomes increasingly widespread among people in the U.S.