Two mourners hug as they leave the funeral home for the visitation of Anastasia De Sousa in Laval, Que., on Sept. 18, 2006. Da Sousa was killed when a lone gunman went on a shooting rampage at Montreal's Dawson College, wounding nineteen other people. (Canadian Press)

Almost half the students and staff at Montreal's Dawson College suffered from mental-health problems after the shooting rampage in 2006, suggests a recent survey by the McGill University Health Centre.

About 10,000 students and staff at the school at the time of the shooting Sept. 13, 2006, were asked to fill out an online questionaire in March 2008, with more than 1,000 responding.

The findings were presented on Monday at the congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health in New York.

They answered questions on the presence of mental disorders, drug use and social problems in the 1.5 years before the shooting and the 1.5 years after the shooting.

More than 40 per cent of respondents said they suffered from some sort of mental-health or other issue, such as anxiety, insomnia and problems concentrating, after the shooting. One student was killed, and 19 other people were wounded before the gunman killed himself.

Other findings from the survey:

• 2 per cent of respondents were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• 7 per cent suffered from severe PTSD symptoms.
• 12 per cent suffered from severe depression.
• 7 per cent had suicidal thoughts.

All of these numbers were estimated to be two or three times higher than found in the general Canadian population.

Only one-third of the people who suffered from a mental difficulty after the shooting sought some sort of psychological treatment. Researcher Richard Boyer said the survey highlights the importance of ongoing psychological help.

“What we found is it is very important to have a continuous intervention and because many people have developed those problems, maybe six [months] or one year after the shooting,” said Boyer.