Psychological help for the terrorized.

• Author: Vatz, Richard E.
• Position: Psychology - Cover Story - Cover Story

WHILE PSYCHOLOGISTS of various stripes have long offered counseling to help people cope with losses of loved ones, the sickening acts of terrorism that struck the U.S. on Sept. 11 seem different and worse. Tragic events often happen without warning in our lives, but the sheer scope of the death and destruction in New York, the fact that the jetliners' passengers were aware of their fate and that some struggled valiantly to overcome the hijackers, the symbols of America being attacked, and the number of people--survivors, relatives, and friends--suffering and struggling to regain their psychological balance put this tragedy in a category of its own.

It is different, too, in how Americans perceive it. The terror created by the image of jetliners smashing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the crashing of a hijacked plane near Pittsburgh, did not end with these events. In fact, there was and is deep fear that the "other shoe may drop." Anxiety concerning future terrorism as well as the ongoing dramatic economic ramifications of these attacks cannot easily be put to rest. Does anyone, therefore, really know what advice and/or counsel should be given to all those Americans upset by these horrible events (which would seem to include virtually everyone) and to those who are directly connected by blood or friendship to the victims?

Helping people cope with loss, brought about by terrorism or other causes, generally falls to professionals in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. In the wake of the tragedy of Sept. 11, there was--and continues to be--a spate of articles in the popular press on the psychological dimensions of the events of that day, especially the effects on those close to the victims as well as those who were actual observers.

Singled out for much analysis are the cell phone calls made by passengers who knew or sensed that they were going to die. These passengers wished to call loved ones as a last goodbye. Several articles addressed whether it was better for survivors to have "closure" by receiving a call from a loved one to say a final goodbye from a doomed airplane. E. Fuller Torrey, among the U.S.'s most high-profile psychiatrists and brain researchers, concluded, "I'm not sure that the shrinks have any more insight to answer this question than the average folks on the street. I'm not sure that I have any more wisdom or knowledge than anyone else because nobody has done any studies on this." He added that it was his "gut reaction" that it is better to make the call if you can because it "would presumably provide some closure." Similarly unsure of the answer as to...