In Vancouver, the community is grieving after the intentional attack at a Filipino street festival that killed 11 individuals, including a young girl and her parents. The article highlights that while disasters, both natural and man-made, can profoundly affect survivors, they also reveal humanity's resilience. Survivors often navigate severe psychological and physical impacts, yet evidence suggests they usually recover well with time and support. Understanding that man-made disasters usually leave deeper impacts than natural ones is essential in providing effective support and intervention for those affected.
Among the victims were a 5-year-old girl and both of her parents. Several other people remain hospitalized with serious injuries.
As a general rule, we are far more resilient than is commonly thought, and most people have a surprising capacity to heal and recover with the passing of time.
People tend to be more severely affected by man-made atrocities than by natural disasters... they are often terribly destructive, but they are not the intentional result of someone wishing to cause extreme harm.
In this post, I briefly summarize what we know about the impact of disasters, whether natural or man-made. I then discuss what we can do to support the social and psychological well-being of survivors.
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