Psychological effects of terror attacks

Abstract

Terrorism is about psychology ⋯ [it] is about imagining the monster under our beds or lurking in dark closets - the faceless, omnipotent enemy who might be ⋯ our neighbor ⋯. The power of terrorism lies precisely in its pervasive ambiguity, in its invasion of our minds.1 The statistical chance of being killed by terrorism in the United States in 2001 was significantly lower than dying as a result of a motor vehicle accident. Yet in the same year there was a 6.5% decrease in air travel, 20% of which occurred in the last 3 months of the year, following 9/11.2 The sarin gas attacks in Tokyo in 1995 resulted in 12 deaths, and another 1,000 people directly exposed: however, 5,000 presented themselves at hospital with physical symptoms.3 Following the anthrax scare in 2001, some individuals complained of burning sensations following opening mail, which did not contain toxic substances.3 Scud attacks in Israel resulted in more anxiety-related symptoms than physical injuries.4 These actual physical symptoms suffered by individuals not actually exposed to a terrorist attack have led some authors to label these reactions as mass idiopathic illness.5 Terrorism results in widespread anxiety, and subsequent behavior change, the extent of which is far greater than is warranted from the actual objective danger, and also far more extreme than irrational fears that are found following other traumatic events. These wide-ranging psychological effects in the general population are, it is suggested, unique to terrorism.2 © 2009 Springer New York.