Survivors of gun injuries often face a long, painful recovery. When the gun victims are children or teens, family members also struggle. In the year following a firearm injury, child and adolescent survivors endured significant increases in pain, psychiatric and substance use disorders compared to their peers, according to research published Monday in the journal Health Affairs. The mental health of family members also was affected.
Katherine Hoops, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, said the struggle for survivors and family members likely continues beyond the year after the initial injury. “In my own experience walking alongside families after violent injuries, these things never go away or they take a long time for a family, a community or an individual to cope with,” said Hoops, who was not involved in the study.