On national trauma
Apr. 19th, 2007 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dtmSo today I got an email message on my work account titled "FW: EAP Support: Coping with Tragedy at Virginia Tech" and with the text:
Now, the shootings at VT were awful, and surely traumatic for those who witnessed them or knew one of the victims. And yes, they will eventually lead to a national dialogue about how our society approaches guns and mental illness. (though probably not much serious discussion about the visible have/have-not divide at some undergraduate institutions)
And for those directly affected, psychological counseling and support is now vital. However, that kind of support isn't going to come from a brochure. Presumably, then, this brochure is directed at the rest of us, who need something after 30 college students are killed in Virginia but are expected to take news like this completely in stride:
Our EAP provider, Horizon Health, has provided the attached articles to help support us in the aftermath of the incident at Virginia Tech.(with an attached word document I haven't opened yet)
Now, the shootings at VT were awful, and surely traumatic for those who witnessed them or knew one of the victims. And yes, they will eventually lead to a national dialogue about how our society approaches guns and mental illness. (though probably not much serious discussion about the visible have/have-not divide at some undergraduate institutions)
And for those directly affected, psychological counseling and support is now vital. However, that kind of support isn't going to come from a brochure. Presumably, then, this brochure is directed at the rest of us, who need something after 30 college students are killed in Virginia but are expected to take news like this completely in stride:
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Car bombings in Baghdad killed at least 166 people in the worst violence in the capital since the U.S. military began a troop ``surge'' two months ago aimed at ending attacks.Or this: (from over the weekend)
Two months into the U.S.-led Baghdad Security Plan, at least 289 people were killed and injured across Iraq on Saturday, including 36 dead in a car bomb attack in the holy Shiite city of Karbala. The carnage of a crowd teeming with women and children set off an angry mob of hundreds against the governor and police.Or this: (from April 7th)
McCloud was the 105th homicide victim this year in Philadelphia, where the death toll is outpacing last year's by about 20 percent.You'll forgive me if I don't receive this emailed brochure as convincing evidence that our corporate-contracted Employee Assistance Program really truly cares.