How are you feeling, personally, in the wake of last week's tragedy?

I had an interesting discussion with some friends today, where people were admitting that they were taking the news harder than they expected.
People who have been engulfed in the non-stop flood of information about the shooting, and others who have gone out of their way to avoid it. Both sides were coming forward and expressing feelings of being drained, emotionally sensitive, several suggested that their reactions are more akin to suffering a personal loss rather than listening to a news story.

I am one of the people that have been trying to limit my exposure to the coverage of the event. I haven’t sought out any articles, I haven’t turned on my TV, but it’s nearly impossible to entirely avoid it. I find myself torn between wanting to encourage discussions that I feel are important to have, but not wanting to become consumed by the media circus.

Is grieving an event that affects the nation different from grieving a personal loss? Can they be similar? How are you?