story21288.xml
Title
story21288.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2006-09-23
911DA Story: Story
The Impact of 9/11 on Our Society and on Subsequent Disaster Mental Health Efforts
Complacency took a serious blow on 9/11 and millions of us began rethinking the ultimate priorities of life. Suddenly Americans had to stop and consider things wed prefer not to face about the ways we live our individual and collective lives. Everyone in the helping professions shared something in common with many of our clients we all came to better understand our own vulnerability as we watched in horror as others suffered. Many of us found it harder to cope, as our usual healthy defenses were tested and, in some cases, began to fail.
At the time, many of my colleagues reported feeling fear, helplessness, and anger at depths theyd never previously experienced. Government workers were especially hard hit, psychologically, as buildings were evacuated. Returning the next workday was especially hard for Federal workers in DC area, as many worried What if we are the next target? Many usually peace-loving people found themselves with an urge to bomb someone in retaliation. Three years later, the ongoing war on terrorism continues and we all hope and pray it is successful in preventing anything like this from happening again.
Since 9/11 we have seen dramatic changes in social relationships. Many people made major moves - some more quickly married than they had originally planned, others tired of unhappiness in their lives and separated or divorced. Many folks travel less and cocoon more - family time is more important to them. Finding time for small pleasures (like attending all kids activities) is easier and people make sure to stay in closer touch with family members and friends. People say goodbye differently and many people physically moved back to communities they long considered their real homes.
In the short run, we became a kinder, gentler society. While I was in NY in late 2001, I saw an editorial page essay on fears about the city becoming the Seattle of the East (people were holding doors open, allowing lane changes without blasting their horns, and displaying less cursing and in-your-face attitude). The same types of positive changes happened in many other parts of our nation too. Sadly, this has, for the most part, worn off during the ensuing years and weve returned to our old ways.
Our patriotism soared for a while, as people developed a strong sense of national pride, the likes of which wed not experienced since Pearl Harbor was attacked. Sadly, so did our nations racist tendencies, as many people began targeting Arabs, Muslims, and others who stood out as different and were visiting or living here in America with verbal harassment, vandalism, and even physical assaults after all, many people seemed to think, they could be terrorists too.
As a society, we have begun to place increased value on public service and on volunteerism. Weve seen increased respect for the roles our police, fire/rescue, emergency service personnel, and even the roles other health/human service workers play in our society. After 9/11, many Americans also did some serious rethinking about issues of work and money. Folks were asking themselves: Did I pick the right job? (and the right career); Is it worth it? (to put in so much overtime); and Is this really what I want to do with my life? Consequently, there were many career transformations due to post-9/11 introspection on employment issues.
We learned that 24/7 TV coverage created overexposure to trauma. Many people feared missing something that was new and important, so they watched and waited. In the process, they saw the buildings attacked over and over again (or whatever the event happened to be). Many people needed permission/direction to stop watching. It seems the media has gradually begun to recognize this phenomena and has become somewhat more responsible in their anniversary coverage.
I continue to often think about the victims, the survivors, and the many dedicated colleagues who served with me on the two assignments. My volunteer work in disaster relief constantly reinforces the fact that people are incredibly strong and resilient. Most of what we value in ourselves and in others our character and our inner strength has not come to us easily and quickly. It has come to us via the slow and difficult process of experiencing and overcoming the adverse events weve already faced in our lives. The events of 9/11 have presented us with a defining moment and it is now our responsibility to do something meaningful in response to it.
* * *
If I had to pick one major lesson learned from my disaster relief experiences, it would have to be the importance of careful screening, proactive supervision and daily self-care efforts to keep the entire workforce safe and sound. My greatest frustration while serving in mass casualty assignments usually comes from the troubling behaviors of a very small group of my fellow relief workers who end up requiring large amounts of administrative staff time. Sadly, there have been many people who required investigation and intervention following incidents of sexual harassment no big surprise, as this is an unfortunate part of our culture. Nevertheless, it requires lots of careful work by skilled people to quickly and thoroughly resolve these distracting situations whenever they arise.
Even more troubling to me, though, were the self-proclaimed trauma experts who told me they had wasted their time coming to help, because they had not gotten to spend their entire assignment working at ground zero. These same people had trouble following directions (and some seemed prone to freelancing). In retrospect, it strikes me that tighter screening of personnel might be able to help with this in future operations. Till we come up with a better vetting process, consider using this overly simple one. Ask people:
How do you think you can best help us with this relief operation?
A. By working at or near ground zero.
B. By working anyplace but ground zero.
C. By working wherever you need me.
Those who answer A have a greater potential for becoming part of the problem rather than the solution use with care (if at all). Those who answer B probably have good insight into their own strengths, needs, and tolerances use them in low-stress settings. Those who answer C tend to be the best workers for sensitive and high-stress locations.
Complacency took a serious blow on 9/11 and millions of us began rethinking the ultimate priorities of life. Suddenly Americans had to stop and consider things wed prefer not to face about the ways we live our individual and collective lives. Everyone in the helping professions shared something in common with many of our clients we all came to better understand our own vulnerability as we watched in horror as others suffered. Many of us found it harder to cope, as our usual healthy defenses were tested and, in some cases, began to fail.
At the time, many of my colleagues reported feeling fear, helplessness, and anger at depths theyd never previously experienced. Government workers were especially hard hit, psychologically, as buildings were evacuated. Returning the next workday was especially hard for Federal workers in DC area, as many worried What if we are the next target? Many usually peace-loving people found themselves with an urge to bomb someone in retaliation. Three years later, the ongoing war on terrorism continues and we all hope and pray it is successful in preventing anything like this from happening again.
Since 9/11 we have seen dramatic changes in social relationships. Many people made major moves - some more quickly married than they had originally planned, others tired of unhappiness in their lives and separated or divorced. Many folks travel less and cocoon more - family time is more important to them. Finding time for small pleasures (like attending all kids activities) is easier and people make sure to stay in closer touch with family members and friends. People say goodbye differently and many people physically moved back to communities they long considered their real homes.
In the short run, we became a kinder, gentler society. While I was in NY in late 2001, I saw an editorial page essay on fears about the city becoming the Seattle of the East (people were holding doors open, allowing lane changes without blasting their horns, and displaying less cursing and in-your-face attitude). The same types of positive changes happened in many other parts of our nation too. Sadly, this has, for the most part, worn off during the ensuing years and weve returned to our old ways.
Our patriotism soared for a while, as people developed a strong sense of national pride, the likes of which wed not experienced since Pearl Harbor was attacked. Sadly, so did our nations racist tendencies, as many people began targeting Arabs, Muslims, and others who stood out as different and were visiting or living here in America with verbal harassment, vandalism, and even physical assaults after all, many people seemed to think, they could be terrorists too.
As a society, we have begun to place increased value on public service and on volunteerism. Weve seen increased respect for the roles our police, fire/rescue, emergency service personnel, and even the roles other health/human service workers play in our society. After 9/11, many Americans also did some serious rethinking about issues of work and money. Folks were asking themselves: Did I pick the right job? (and the right career); Is it worth it? (to put in so much overtime); and Is this really what I want to do with my life? Consequently, there were many career transformations due to post-9/11 introspection on employment issues.
We learned that 24/7 TV coverage created overexposure to trauma. Many people feared missing something that was new and important, so they watched and waited. In the process, they saw the buildings attacked over and over again (or whatever the event happened to be). Many people needed permission/direction to stop watching. It seems the media has gradually begun to recognize this phenomena and has become somewhat more responsible in their anniversary coverage.
I continue to often think about the victims, the survivors, and the many dedicated colleagues who served with me on the two assignments. My volunteer work in disaster relief constantly reinforces the fact that people are incredibly strong and resilient. Most of what we value in ourselves and in others our character and our inner strength has not come to us easily and quickly. It has come to us via the slow and difficult process of experiencing and overcoming the adverse events weve already faced in our lives. The events of 9/11 have presented us with a defining moment and it is now our responsibility to do something meaningful in response to it.
* * *
If I had to pick one major lesson learned from my disaster relief experiences, it would have to be the importance of careful screening, proactive supervision and daily self-care efforts to keep the entire workforce safe and sound. My greatest frustration while serving in mass casualty assignments usually comes from the troubling behaviors of a very small group of my fellow relief workers who end up requiring large amounts of administrative staff time. Sadly, there have been many people who required investigation and intervention following incidents of sexual harassment no big surprise, as this is an unfortunate part of our culture. Nevertheless, it requires lots of careful work by skilled people to quickly and thoroughly resolve these distracting situations whenever they arise.
Even more troubling to me, though, were the self-proclaimed trauma experts who told me they had wasted their time coming to help, because they had not gotten to spend their entire assignment working at ground zero. These same people had trouble following directions (and some seemed prone to freelancing). In retrospect, it strikes me that tighter screening of personnel might be able to help with this in future operations. Till we come up with a better vetting process, consider using this overly simple one. Ask people:
How do you think you can best help us with this relief operation?
A. By working at or near ground zero.
B. By working anyplace but ground zero.
C. By working wherever you need me.
Those who answer A have a greater potential for becoming part of the problem rather than the solution use with care (if at all). Those who answer B probably have good insight into their own strengths, needs, and tolerances use them in low-stress settings. Those who answer C tend to be the best workers for sensitive and high-stress locations.
Collection
Citation
“story21288.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 28, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/19667.