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by Michael Lasalandra
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
The psychological effects of the Sept. 11 attacks were not limited to
those who experienced it directly, says a new national survey that found
17 percent of Americans still suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress
two months later.
Nearly 6 percent of Americans living outside of New
York City reported such symptoms as long as six months after the
attacks, says the study in today's Journal of the American Medical
Association.
``The effects continued throughout the country among individuals who
were, for the most part, not directly affected by the attacks,'' states
the paper by psychologists at the University of California-Irvine.
Symptoms included feeling jittery, dreaming about the attacks,
unexpectedly thinking about them and trying to avoid reminders.
But the study found that the strongest predictor of whether individuals
would suffer symptoms over time was the coping strategies they used soon
after the attacks. People who used ``active coping strategies'' such as
giving blood or attending memorial services had lower stress levels.
Those who ``gave up'' in the first two weeks after the attacks – ended
coping efforts, went into denial or distracted themselves from reality -
were more likely to have poor psychological outcomes.
The results ``are normal responses to an abnormal trauma,'' said author
Roxane Cohen Silver.
More than 900 Americans were surveyed over the Internet two weeks, two
months and six months after the attacks. The participants were randomly
recruited before the attacks to take part in periodic Internet surveys
on various topics. Sixty percent reported watching the attacks live on
television; only six people said they had watched no TV coverage of the
attacks during the week afterward.
Those with the highest levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms included
people who were separated from their spouses, those previously diagnosed
with depression or anxiety and women.
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