Stress and Psychological Effects
Bernard H. Levin and Joseph A. Schafer
Levin, B. H. and Schafer, J. A. (2007). "Stress and psychological effects". In Schafer, J. A. and Levin, B. H. (Eds.) Policing and Mass Casualty Events. Washington DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation, pp. 128-140.
The authors of this article submit that the commonly held views of heroism and stress response are both inter-related and misplaced.
As pointed out by Summerfield (2001), post-traumatic stress disorder “is an entity constructed as much from sociopolitical ideas as from psychiatric ones” and “...the story of post-traumatic stress disorder is a telling example of the role of society and politics in the process of invention rather than discovery” (p. 95).
Some people might expect that the elderly are vulnerable to psychological damage due to trauma. Wrong. Bonanno and his colleagues (2006) found that those 65 years of age and older were by far the most resilient age group within the population. The most vulnerable age group was those 25-34 years of age.
Some other variables operate as most might expect. For example, the rich did much better than the poor, and the educated did much better than the uneducated. Asians did far better than whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and other racial/ethnic groups.
McNally et al. (2003) show that strong social networks and high intelligence protect people against PTSD.
Furthermore, even those affected psychologically by trauma need not abandon hope. For example, “4 months after September 11th, the prevalence of PTSD in the population of Manhattan living below 110th Street as measured by two cross-sectional surveys declined to 34.1 percent of the prevalence of PTSD 1 month after the event.” (Galea et al., 2004). In other words, two thirds of those showing symptoms of PTSD a month after the event were not showing such symptoms three months later.
Seventh, in most studies, three-fourths of the populations exposed to trauma prove resilient. That bit of information, although it does not sell airtime or newspaper space, is vital to keep front and center in planning for mass casualty events.
Find the whole paper here, starting at page 130
http://www.policefuturists.org/pdf/207.Vol3.Mass.Casualty.Events.final.21mr07.pdf
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