Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002 | 9:11 a.m.
A year later, UNLV sociologist Matt Wray is less passionate about it, his voice less panicked, his analysis of the sociological impact of Sept. 11 more reticent.
"For most of us, the event has receded in our consciousness. We have 'routinized' it," Wray said. "It was a moment where the nation was coping with genuine tragedy of stunning magnitude, and we have largely gotten through that. I don't think there have been large, lasting sociological changes."
But if the American lifestyle seems smooth on the surface, psychiatrists say it belies a turbulent year in the American psyche.
"What happened on that day was the nation as a whole was subjected to an acute trauma and had, and still has, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder," said Harriet Braiker, a California psychiatrist and author of the book "The September 11 Syndrome: Anxious Days and Sleepless Nights."
"There are lasting psychological effects. On a day-to-day basis, you've got adaptive denial going on. There is a level of cognitive anxiety that we all deal with -- we drive onto a bridge and we're saying to ourselves,'Which one of these trucks is carrying explosives?' " Braiker said. "We weren't doing that last Sept. 10."
Roxanne Mays, a North Las Vegas resident who works as a loan processor, said the memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are with her every day.
"I look at people more suspiciously now," Mays said. "You have to. I pay more attention to foreigners, unfortunately."
Mays has flown four times since Sept. 11 and been on the look out for abandoned luggage and suspicious packages and people.
"At the airport, I'm definitely more aware," Mays said. "I flew the day they reopened air travel, and from that time on, I've been much more aware of everything."
Renae Dosch was up early on Sept. 11 watching television as she tried to put up with the kicking that comes with being pregnant with twin girls.
"All day long I was wondering what kind of world I was bringing my babies into," said Dosch, who was raised in Las Vegas. "I really thought that we might be facing a full-blown war. We didn't think life would still be so normal."
Dosch's girls were born in December, and although her fears have eased, Dosch still feels a nagging uneasiness.
"It is always kind of at the back of my head, kind of just buzzing there," Dosch said. "I think I'll have that uneasy feeling for a long time, certainly whenever I think of my daughters and their future."
Others, though, are tired of hearing about Sept. 11 and the grief and the tragedy of the day.
"Get over it," Las Vegas stagehand Scott Gualt said. "People are letting their emotions run amok. Bad things happen all the time, you can't spend every minute obsessing about a random act of violence."
Gualt said he's done his part to help the country -- specifically, the sagging economy.
"I bought a new truck," Gualt said. "That's what people should be doing, buying things, going out and living their lives."
Still, Braiker, who treats "many" patients for Sept. 11-related depression, said there is now a "lingering, low-grade anxiety."
"If people had a sense of what to do, they would reduce their anxiety," Braiker said. "But here, we're still in some denial."
Braiker said many Americans still are walking around with low-level depression and anxiety, unaware that their stress is still related to Sept. 11.
A survey by Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina published in August in the Journal of the American Medical Association -- the first comprehensive study on the American psyche after Sept. 11 -- shows that roughly 5 percent of the population suffered mental health problems, and 12 percent of New Yorkers still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"And those with pre-existing mental health problems or substance abuse were more at risk," said Paul A. Kettle, a psychiatrist and professor at Pennsylvania State University.
And as the anniversary of the tragic attacks approaches, Braiker says, Americans still aren't sure how to handle the psychological effect or how to cope with the anniversary.
The nation's two largest teachers unions have been feuding about how to talk to children about the anniversary.
The National Education Association, the largest union, posted information on the Internet recommending that teachers talk about the politics that caused the attacks. But a rival union, the American Federation of Teachers, says the NEA points the finger at American foreign policy and doesn't blame the terrorists enough.
Employers, meanwhile, are divided about whether to formally recognize the anniversary at work. The Society for Human Resources reports that about 69 percent of its members have nothing formal planned because, spokesman Frank Scanlan said, "A lot of organizations are uncertain about how to proceed."
Certainly, images of the attack will be widespread on the anniversary.
The study published in JAMA said that many Americans turned to their TVs for solace in the wake of the tragedy, but it indicated that viewing repetitive images of it may have exacerbated their problems. The study showed that the level of mental anguish corresponded directly with the amount of TV one watched.
"I think people should know that if the images disturbed you the first time -- and who didn't get disturbed? -- you've got to be careful as you expose yourself to them again and again on the anniversary," Braiker said.
She says that there are ways people should address the tragedy to help them move through the mental anguish.
"One thing is to remain committed to the values we had before the tragedy, whether it's religious faith or patriotism. That helps you get through the stress," Braiker said.
In the immediate aftermath, many turned to their faith for support. Interfaith programs flourished in an attempt to understand Islam and, it seemed, build a cultural bridge between Islam and Christianity.
But today interfaith efforts seem to have subsided, Wray said, and efforts at understanding the politics of religion have fallen by the wayside.
"On the one hand there was a flowering of multicultural tolerance, but at the same time a crackdown on the civil liberties of Arab-Americans, which is a paradox," Wray said.
Instead of interfaith awareness, some religious leaders are calling for a return to traditions to handle remaining anxiety and depression.
The Rev. Anthony Selvaggio of College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church in Beaver Falls, Pa., has tried to publicize traditional Judeo-Christian practices of "lament" for dealing with ongoing angst.
In letters to editors, Selvaggio says the Book of Psalms calls for people to to "cry out over personal and physical suffering," not to thicken one's skin.
"Americans are quite uncomfortable with lament. Why is that? Perhaps there is something askew in the American psyche? Perhaps we are mesmerized by our own national theology of glory?" Selvaggio said.
"As we approach Sept. 11, 2002, I fear we are at risk of becoming enraptured in a national media event that will involve a lot of flag waving and speeches about 'America the rejuvenated.' Fight that temptation and take time to lament."
Overall, Braiker said, Americans need to focus on healing.
"Denial ultimately will make people very very angry," Braiker said.
"I see people all the time who have issues related to Sept. 11, but a lot of people won't talk about it because it's not socially appropriate to do," Braiker said. "That's unfortunate.
"As we come to the anniversary, we need to talk about it. Otherwise, we're just alienated. The American psyche still needs healing."
archive
