Terrorism“Terrorism does not terrorize”: Study
The impact of terrorism on post-traumatic stress may be less significant than we thought, argue the authors of a significant new study. A major review of over 400 research articles studying the association between acts of terrorism and mental health has reached the significant conclusion that “terrorism isn’t terrorizing” – at least not in a way that causes increases in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) greater than would be expected from any other distressing event.
A major review of over 400 research articles studying the association between acts of terrorism and mental health has reached the significant conclusion that “terrorism isn’t terrorizing” – at least not in a way that causes increases in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) greater than would be expected from any other distressing event.
The findings, published in The Lancet Psychiatry from researchers at the University of Bath, run counter to much commentary on the topic, which usually suggests that an increase in terrorist attacks will have a negative impact on peoples’ psychological wellbeing. Such an association, say the researchers, is overstated due to a modern day tendency to imagine the worst, particularly on matters relating to mental health.
Mapping the association between terrorism and PTSD
Bath says that by conducting an extensive review and analysis of the research published both pre and post 9/11, the team involved note that attempts to understand the links between terrorism and mental health are actually quite recent. In fact, there was almost no such focus until shortly before 9/11 following which there was a spike in articles focused on the assumed connection. The study highlights that this was encouraged by the recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its redefinition by the American Psychological Association in 1994 in a cultural climate also more attuned to emotional hurt. Most of the articles analyzed for this study were published post 9/11.
Yet, in spite of increasing attention to the subject, the researchers found no clear association between terror events and cases of PTSD in the literature. Their findings suggest that many studies were drawn to expanding what was meant by the term, allowing categories such as ‘pre-PTSD’ or ‘PTSD-symptom’ to be audited instead.
This, they argue, confuses and conflates what is meant by PTSD and has the negative effect of ignoring other significant impacts tied to terror events – not least social, economic and physical ones. They also suggest that expanding what constitutes PTSD may lead to the minority who genuinely suffer from its effects being less able to access the support they really need.
