Senseless Tragedy: Understanding Violence and Mental Health
They say time heals all wounds, but that is a useless idiom in times like this. Maybe the passage of time dilutes the pain Fordyce is going through as life goes on for those left behind. But there’s no healing here, just acceptance of a senseless tragedy that changed everything. Tragedies that are senseless do not add up. The deaths involve do not add up. They are not, after all, necessary, not even if they bring more awareness. When violent tragedies and trauma occur, our sense of safety is completely shaken. When targeted violence occurs, our belief in the good of others is questioned, and the desire to answer the question “why” is more important than ever.
The poorly constructed building that could not resist the spread of fire. A random knifing or shooting. An earthquake or tsunami. A broken dam or a sea of mud. So many senseless deaths; so many bereaved families struggling to find any meaning for what happened. Suicide: A Senseless Tragedy. The hardest truth is hearing, “We’ve tried everything, we’re out of options.” Therefore, we need to stop trying to understand it, to stop trying to make sense of the senseless. All violence, in my opinion, has its origins in the energy of Fear, and Fear is taught.
As humans, we are hardwired to make sense of things. To analyze, formulate, and reason. We’re perpetually mining for meaning—especially when there’s chaos. Unconsciously we ask ourselves, “What does it mean?”
