The X-Podcast: Real Conversations About Mental Health
A Conversation About: 9/11 and Mental Health #31
September 18, 2024
The X-Podcast: Real Conversations About Mental Health
A Conversation About: 9/11 and Mental Health
Episode #31
In this episode the X-Podcast team discusses the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States and the impact on mental health.
The team gets into the details about the impactful event and then dive into the very complicated and various implications it had on mental health related to survivors, victims, family members, and all citizens. Our host Xiomara tells her personal story as a survivor of 9/11 at The Pentagon and how her mental health has evolved since that experience. The team discusses some of the connected mental health fallout and provides their perspective, resources and important information for anyone who wants support and help with their mental health.
Host Xiomara A. Sosa, co-host JRoc and guest Ant have a relatable discussion that does touch on this important topic in the United States.
Other notes:
What Happened?
The World Trade Center (WTC) was a 16-acre commercial complex in lower Manhattan that contained seven buildings, a large plaza, and an underground shopping mall that connected six of the buildings. The centerpieces of the complex were the Twin Towers.
On September 11, 2001, the entire complex was destroyed in a terrorist attack that has come to be referred to as “9/11.”
The Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City. At 110 stories each, 1 WTC (North Tower) and 2 WTC (South Tower) provided nearly 10 million square feet of office space for about 35,000 people and 430 companies. For a brief period upon their completion in 1973, they were the tallest buildings in the world. They attracted roughly 70,000 commuters and tourists daily.
The towers were massive. The North Tower rose 1,368 feet—1,730 feet with a large antenna—and the South Tower stood 1,362 feet high. Views extended 45 miles or more from the top of the towers in every direction—far enough to see all five New York City boroughs, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Each weighed more than 250,000 tons and contained 99 elevators and 21,800 windows. Each floor was an acre in size and there was enough concrete in the towers to build a five-foot-wide sidewalk from New York City to Washington, D.C.
The towers had been the target of an attack before 9/11. On February 26, 1993, terrorists with links to an Islamist extremist group detonated explosives in a van parked underneath the WTC. Six people were killed and thousands were injured.
“9/11” is shorthand for four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001.
Nineteen terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The Twin Towers ultimately collapsed because of the damage sustained from the impacts and the resulting fires. After learning about the other attacks, passengers on the fourth hijacked plane, Flight 93, fought back, and the plane crashed into an empty field in western Pennsylvania about 20 minutes by air from Washington, D.C.
The attacks killed 2,977 people from 90 nations: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed at the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93.
The terrorists did not have the capacity to destroy the United States militarily, so they set their sights on symbolic targets instead. The Twin Towers, as the centerpieces of the World Trade Center, symbolized globalization and America’s economic power and prosperity.
The Pentagon, as the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense, serves as a symbol of American military power. It is thought that Flight 93 was headed to the Capitol building, the center of American legislative government.
Al-Qaeda hoped that, by attacking these symbols of American power, they would promote widespread fear throughout the country and severely weaken the United States’ standing in the world community, ultimately supporting their political and religious goals in the Middle East and Muslim world.
Mental Health
Studies conducted after 9/11 suggest that those who experienced the WTC attacks and those who repeatedly witnessed the events on television and in newspapers are at greater risk of developing long-term psychological problems. Described below are some of the 52 related health conditions covered by the WTC Health Program.
Further research has shown that PTSD and lower respiratory symptoms each influence the occurrence of the other over time (Wyka, 2020). Several factors play a role in the relationship between PTSD and lower respiratory symptoms including the presence of specific lower respiratory symptoms, over-all health, and mal-adaptive behaviors that can exacerbate the co-occurrence of PTSD and LRS (Gargano, 2019).
In addition, PTSD is associated with earlier death and specifically death from suicide, unintentional accidents, and drug over-dose, as well as, cardiovascular disease (Geisinger, 2020). Also, PTSD or PTSD in combination with 9/11-related physical health problems can result in early retirement and substantial post-retirement income loss (Yu, 2019).
On a positive side, we also found that some enrollees experienced post-traumatic growth or positive psychological growth following trauma such as 9/11, which was augmented by high social integration, more social support, and higher self-efficacy (Pollari, 2021).
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are the most common health effect of the 9/11 attacks. Up to 20% of adults directly exposed to the disaster or injured in the attack had PTSD symptoms five to six years after the attack; this is four times the rate in the general population.
Depression
Ten years after the attacks, 15% of Registry enrollees reported depression and 10% reported both depression and PTSD.
Substance Use Disorders
Stress and exposure to the WTC attacks may increase the risk of developing substance use disorders or cause relapse among people who previously had a substance use problem.
Conditions Treated
Mental health clinicians (clinical mental health counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers) provide comprehensive mental health evaluations and treatment to responders who experience mental health conditions associated with their 9/11 rescue and recovery efforts.
Responders display a wide variety of mental health concerns, and our specialists can diagnose and treat all relevant mental health conditions.
Mental health conditions often experienced by responders:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Depression
- Adjustment disorders
- Anxiety and panic disorders
- Substance use disorders
It is important to remember that we can provide effective treatments for these conditions. After we complete an assessment, we will discuss your personalized care options with you.
Services Provided
Mental health clinicians offer annual mental health monitoring services to tens of thousands of rescue and recovery workers. These include law enforcement, emergency medical workers, construction and ironworkers, asbestos handlers, and other responders. We assess overall well-being and provide basic benefits-related services.
We use a variety of mental health tools to help. These may include:
- Diagnostic evaluation
- Individual psychotherapy
- Psychopharmacology
- Group therapy
Group therapy is quite helpful, several types of groups include:
- Law enforcement psychotherapy group
- Women's group
- Dialectical behavior therapy skills group
- Coping and wellness group
- Anxiety and depression coping skills group
- Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
- Improving relationships process group
Enduring Legacy
The enduring power of the Sept. 11 attacks is clear: An overwhelming share of Americans who are old enough to recall the day remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Yet an ever-growing number of Americans have no personal memory of that day, either because they were too young or not yet born.
A badly shaken nation came together, briefly, in a spirit of sadness and patriotism; how the public initially rallied behind the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, though support waned over time; and how Americans viewed the threat of terrorism at home and the steps the government took to combat it.
A devastating emotional toll, a lasting historical legacy.
Shock, sadness, fear, anger: The 9/11 attacks inflicted a devastating emotional toll on Americans. But as horrible as the events of that day were, a 63% majority of Americans said they couldn’t stop watching news coverage of the attacks.
A sizable majority of adults (71%) said they felt depressed, nearly half (49%) had difficulty concentrating and a third said they had trouble sleeping.
It was an era in which television was still the public’s dominant news source – 90% said they got most of their news about the attacks from television, compared with just 5% who got news online – and the televised images of death and destruction had a powerful impact.
Resources
https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/mentalhealth.html
https://www.911healthwatch.org/where-to-get-help/
https://www.thex-studio.org/resources
https://www.911memorial.org/learn/students-and-teachers/lesson-plans
https://americorps.gov/serve/volunteer/911-day/911-day-resources
References
https://www.911memorial.org/911-faqs
https://www.nyc.gov/site/911health/enrollees/mental-health.page
https://www.mountsinai.org/care/occupational-health/services-programs/wtc/our-services/mental-health
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