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Speaker 1: Doctor Tanvia Akhmed psychiatrist Tanvia good morning, thank you for

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Speaker 1: your time. We'll be with you, massw We're too next

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Speaker 1: from here.

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Speaker 2: Look, I guess on one level it is important we

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Speaker 2: deceeeded perspective and acknowledge is a great deal of distress.

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Speaker 2: And a part of that is the context. You know,

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Speaker 2: the fact that the bondai being happened and shopping centers

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Speaker 2: suddenly have an extra edge which they didn't necessarily have.

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Speaker 2: So I think that's obviously the backdrop here, but I

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Speaker 2: think we should see it in perspective. It sounded like

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Speaker 2: was that armed we use I'm looking at the thing,

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Speaker 2: looking at the story here. This does not I guess what.

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Speaker 2: When something like this happens, we get a much stronger

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Speaker 2: sense of threat that follows through beyond the shopping center.

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Speaker 2: It affects all over our public in general. Suddenly we

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Speaker 2: lose trust in others. So there's a combination of people

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Speaker 2: coming together. So often as a community we come together

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Speaker 2: in times of crisis or tragedy, so there will be

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Speaker 2: an element of that here well, thankfully or no death

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Speaker 2: or anything like that. But at the same time we

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Speaker 2: get this heightened sense of threat, which is usually irrational,

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Speaker 2: which is usually irrational. It's not always irrational, but I

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Speaker 2: think this case, most likely it is irrational. So I

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Speaker 2: don't think it's absolutely problematic that you're not a little

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Speaker 2: bit more careful in the short term, but I think

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Speaker 2: this needs to be seen in the bigger context of

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Speaker 2: something else that happened earlier in the year. What I

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Speaker 2: would say as a psychiatrists too. Generally, in these sort

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Speaker 2: of setting, people already have some sort of pre existing issues.

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Speaker 2: They might have some history of trauma or anxiety, etc.

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Speaker 2: They are sometimes at slightly greater risk of going downhill

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Speaker 2: or decompensating a little, so sometimes they need a little

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Speaker 2: bit more care. They don't necessarily need media professional care,

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Speaker 2: but sometimes they can benefit from a bit of extra help.

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Speaker 2: And that's where I guess the pleasor of phone lines

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Speaker 2: these days can be quite useful, but family and friends

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Speaker 2: and work made I mean, they're ultimately the best resource,

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Speaker 2: and just having the right information too, so our minds

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Speaker 2: will necessarily to protect ourselves, will sometimes go to the

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Speaker 2: worst possible outcome. So that's why I think accurate information

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Speaker 2: from authorities and the like can also be very useful here.

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Speaker 1: Indeed, for children and look legally, that's what they are.

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Speaker 1: They're under eighteen. It's this sort of behavior amongst teenage boys.

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Speaker 1: It's not new, is it. I mean the setting, the

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Speaker 1: world has changed around them, and perhaps they don't realize that.

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Speaker 1: I said at the very start of the show, kids

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Speaker 1: that spend too much time on call on duty, call

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Speaker 1: of duty playing that game and aren't in the real

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Speaker 1: world or think they can act like that outside in

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Speaker 1: a shopping center for goodness sake. The world has changed

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Speaker 1: around them in that regard, and the response as a

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Speaker 1: result is high.

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Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, look, you know your teenagers, tribes and misbehavior,

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Speaker 2: it's been around for time immemorial. It takes on new forms.

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Speaker 2: I mean a lot of it now is online. On

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Speaker 2: one level, they're not sitting on a game. And even

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Speaker 2: the shopping center has taken on new you know, so

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Speaker 2: much shopping is on Even the very notion of the

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Speaker 2: shopping center has a different dimension now, and I guess

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Speaker 2: to some extent they gather for different purposes and it's

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Speaker 2: not always to actually shop. You know. This sounds like

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Speaker 2: yet maybe there was something pre planned and will find

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Speaker 2: out more and why they've chowned that a shopping center

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Speaker 2: for it is an unusual situation.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing. You just scratch your head and think,

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Speaker 1: where have you been over the last couple of years.

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Speaker 1: You know you're old enough to know you don't do

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Speaker 1: this in a shopping center, for goodness sake, not in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 2: It is unusual. But look, I'm sure more information, but

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Speaker 2: the broader point Australia remains one of the most peaceful,

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Speaker 2: prosperous places on Earth, and Adelaide for the most part,

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Speaker 2: even more so. So I think it's important to see

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Speaker 2: things in context, it's the right information and just be

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Speaker 2: where the people who have sort of slightly hired is,

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Speaker 2: including children, but also people with pre existing issues. I

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Speaker 2: think by actually quick point about children, generally, if they're

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Speaker 2: younger than sort of eight or nine, it's probably not

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Speaker 2: worth going into too much detail, but just saying that

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Speaker 2: they're safe and their parents are with them, and that's

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Speaker 2: the key point. Where as soon as they're about nine,

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Speaker 2: ten eleven, I think you can actually talk to them

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Speaker 2: about the issues in a slightly more sophisticated way, but

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Speaker 2: at the same time really giving this strong message that

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Speaker 2: they're safe and parents and other loved ones with them.

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Speaker 1: What's your message for people who were there, who might

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Speaker 1: have been locked in a storeroom while this was going on.

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Speaker 1: Who people that might work there, who might be really

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Speaker 1: nervous about wanting to go back to work today.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think it's absolutely normal, absolutely normal, and some

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Speaker 2: people won't be up to going back today. But again,

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Speaker 2: get the right information, see it in context, Recognize that

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Speaker 2: we have strong institutions, you know, police and the like,

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Speaker 2: you know, government, We do have strong institutions right across

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Speaker 2: the country and generally will be protected. I noticed there

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Speaker 2: was a particular police response that was activated in response

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Speaker 2: to the Bondi attacks to just reading about it. So look,

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Speaker 2: I think we can This is where living in a

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Speaker 2: country like ours, we can actually be reassured. You know,

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Speaker 2: we've got good people protecting us. We get the right information,

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Speaker 2: we take that direction. So if we're told that, you know,

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Speaker 2: we shouldn't go back, then that's exactly the right thing

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Speaker 2: to do. And I think it's perfectly fine to have

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Speaker 2: a day or two, you know, potentially a bit uncomfortable

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Speaker 2: about going back. I think it's absolutely acceptable. However, if

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Speaker 2: the problems keep going, Let's say after a week or two,

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Speaker 2: you're still struggling to sleep, or you still be anxious,

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Speaker 2: you're struggling to face the outside world. Then I think

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Speaker 2: that's when you might need more help. But I think

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Speaker 2: the first twenty four to forty eight hours till things

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Speaker 2: become clearer, I think it's absolutely normal. But you know,

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Speaker 2: check it with everyone else you've got. You're not on

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Speaker 2: your own. This is where you do need community and connectedness.

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Speaker 2: You know, we're part of a cohesive including workmate, and

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Speaker 2: I think you need to use all those resources in

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Speaker 2: this setting.

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Speaker 1: All right, terrific advice. Thank you, Tan via pleasure. Thank

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Speaker 1: you doctor Tan v Akhmed, a psychiatrist on the incident

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Speaker 1: to Marian yesterday