According to CNN, between 1966 and 2012, there were 90 mass shootings in the U.S. alone out of 292 globally. Popular bombings in the recent years are the Boston Marathon Bombing and Oklahoma City Bombing. The biggest reported terrorist attack happened in the U.S. on September 11th, 2001.

Over the past few months communities have asked the same question, are these acts of terror being committed so frequently that U.S. citizens are becoming less fazed when terror strikes? Indeed they are.

The problem lies with the psychological impact terror brings. Repetition of terror desensitizes a human and causes a lack of emotional response. Every victim is labeled with a number, which allows the public to lessen the emotional value of human life. In a sense, it is a defense mechanism.

Frequent shootings, bombings, and terrorists attacks also interrupt the mourning period of a nation. When multiple tragedies happen within a given amount of time (normally a short period) citizens lose the ability to mourn the loss of previous victims. This causes victims to be forgotten too soon and the weight of an incident to be overlooked. Bereavement, the period of time one takes to mourn a loss, can last months and even a year. In our current situation, we are given weeks, sometimes less.

Another issue at hand is the political turmoil that results from the tragedies. The public, after an act of terror, relies on politicians to diffuse the situation and offer a solution. Due to the upcoming election, however, politicians are less-likely to offer a reasonable solution. This causes turmoil amongst the public due to a lack of sense of security and unity in the current state of the government.

The only solution present is to focus on the victims’ lives, offer a period of mourning, and offer more resources to the public. In a world filled with tragedies, the public must be reminded of the remaining humanity in the world.