Study: 70,000 May Suffer Post-9/11 Stress Disorder

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Study: 70,000 may suffer post-9/11 stress disorder

By VERENA DOBNIK (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
September 11, 2008 5:39 AM EDT
NEW YORK - New data from a public health registry that tracks the health effects of 9/11 suggest that as many as 70,000 people may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the terrorist attacks.

The estimate, released Wednesday by New York City's Department of Health, is based on an analysis of the health of 71,437 people who enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry. They agreed to be tracked for up to 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the study was based on answers they volunteered about their health two and three years after the attack.

Of the estimated 400,000 people believed to have been heavily exposed to pollution from the disaster, data suggests that 35,000 to 70,000 people developed PTSD and 3,800 to 12,600 may have developed asthma, city health officials said. They include rescue and recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, area workers, commuters and passers-by.

Overall, half of the respondents said they had been in the dust cloud from the collapsing towers; 70 percent witnessed a traumatic sight, such as a plane hitting the tower or falling bodies; and 13 percent sustained an injury that day.

Read more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20080911/48c897c0_3421_1334520080911-902947049

[aquart]

1. Oh, honey, it isn't nearly that few of us.

[Bob Dobbs]

2. No shizzle, it's 100 million, at least.

Biggest. Psyop. Ever.

[pipi_k]

5. Exactly what I was about to say

I wasn't even there and I'm still feeling the effects, psychologically. I have various anxiety disorders (for literally decades) and they've been exacerbated by the terror of that day, and the days following, including the still-suspicious anthrax attacks.

Not to mention the fear that was hammered into us all that "terrorists" could strike us anywhere and in any manner...be it directly via car or suicide bombs, or through our food and/or water supplies.

And the fact that I live in a rural location doesn't make any difference as long as I have family members...children....grandchildren...mom...sisters and brother, etc. who live and work and go to school in the larger cities. Most of the fear isn't even for myself...it's for people whose movements I can't control.

Sept 11th took its toll on a whole lot more people than just the ones who were there....

:(

[Lorien]

9. That's exactly how they want you to feel

if you're terrified you won't care what they do to the country, or how many of your rights are taken away; you'll just want to be reassured that "they" will keep you safe. As Bob Dobbs said; biggest psyop ever. It doesn't really matter if the "terrorists" were completely to blame or BushCo was in on it; keeping you as you are-scared and worried-was the desired result by either or both. That's exactly why I have NEVER allowed it to change the way that I did anything. And it's not that I don't care about the victims; I still have nightmares about what horror those people felt who were forced to jump from the towers, but I also have nightmares about the women killed in the Triangle shirtwaist fire, so any tragedy will cause empathy and sadness for those involved. No, the attacks of 9/11 mostly PISSED ME OFF. I wasn't about to let whoever the fuckers were behind it make me scared because THAT'S WHAT THEY WANTED. Don't give them what they want for a nanosecond! I've spent plenty of time in NYC, I've spent time in the WTC, I have friends who live there...but hell, on 9/11/01 I was supposed to be taking a plane from Orlando to JFK to Oslo, Norway. The plane was grounded, of course, but I did spend the next week trying every way I could to get to my destination-and friends of mine were telling me I was nuts to try to fly right after the attacks! WTF? If there was ever a SAFE time to fly it was when security was on high alert! When I realized on that day that my plane wasn't going anywhere I went into my bank to finalize a loan. The bank officer looked at me when I came into the empty bank (where all the employees were clustered around a TV watching the horrors in NY continue) and said "Don't you know what's going on"?? I said "Yes. Two planes hit the Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon, another crashed in PA, and the Trade Center towers have collapsed. Has anything else happened"? He said no. Then I said "Why should I NOT go about my business? The terrorists WANT to disrupt our lives, but we live in Florida, that's happening up on the East Coast. Don't allow it to disrupt anything! We can grieve the losses, but if we change the way we do things the bad guys win. We can't allow that"! He didn't say anything. I had no idea that those events would turn most of America into a bunch of cowering bed wetters.There's no logic to it at all! That's not who we used to be; years ago we would have bounced right back, investigated the hell out of everything and vowed that we were unbowed and it would never happen again. I still can't believe the way that the media refused to investigate ANYTHING and instead talked about being a Nation in crisis and how we all needed time to heal. Insane! The MSM helped whoever the terrorist were succeed beyond even their wildest expectations, and that's a slap in the face to everyone in this country, especially the victims of that day.

[marions ghost]

15. a lot of the fear

comes from the fact that we don't exactly know what happened and that there's never been a real investigation. And we see how it's been used to justify all manner of horrors by our govt and that is even more frightening. It's that feeling that things are spinning out of control.

You have to sort out who is feeling what kind of fear before putting the entire country in the same boat. Some of the fear is very justified. There will always be some who are strong enough to absorb what happened and go on with their personal business but not many are that immune to such shock. I suspect that those who are capable of doing that have had some shocks in the past that they were able to overcome successfully.

How do you think you were able to maintain your equilibrium on that day so easily? Maybe the rest of us can learn from it. I have a feeling we are going to go through some more of them.

[kayell]

16. Yes it's what they wanted, but you can't just think away PTSD

anymore than you can think away depression. I agree that a huge percentage of the US population probably suffers from one or both of these, not to mention various other stress or anxiety disorders as a result of that day and the ways that the bushites exploited it and all the days and weeks and months (add: and YEARS) afterwards. Not to mention that evil video "tribute" at their convention, designed specifically to bring it all back. DUers may rationally know what went on, and our stress may come out in other ways, but I have no doubt that it affects many of us to this day.

I tried to watch that vid just to see what kind of propaganda tricks they were up to and made it to 46 seconds before I HAD to turn it off. I was sweating, depressed, nauseous, furious, and filled with a feeling of helplessness. 46 seconds. Of what I KNEW was propaganda.

It didn't make me want to duct tape the windows, but it sure did affect me. I went into a severe depression (and agoraphobia - super fun) after 911 - much of it related to the total helplessness I felt at seeing what was happening to our country. Probably also in response to the constant barrage of PANIC NOW we all were subjected to. Rationality and logic helps, but it isn't a cure. I'm in SC, and while I had family in NY, I found out within 1 1/2 days they were ok. Logic would say I shouldn't have been affected, but logic doesn't always work.

Under a different administration, without the psyops people still would have suffered from PTSD, but it would have been largely confined to people on the ground at the scene. Yeah, they engineered it, yeah, we know why, and yes they get to profit from the results, but you still can't just THINK or WILL your way out of those kinds of stresses, because so much of it works on the subconscious level. If you have escaped the effects, I congratulate (and envy) you, but try to understand why others haven't.

There's a good recent post on this site re: depression. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3968519 I urge everyone here to read it if they haven't already.

[dipsydoodle]

3. And I've no doubt

that a large proportion of the population of Chile, a number considerably in excess of 70,000, suffered in exactly the same way post 9/11/73 , exactly 35 years ago , as a result of the USA backed and inspired coup.

[melody]

12. So we're not supposed to have sympathy for the regular Americans who suffered on 9/11?

I had a friend's father murdered by Chilean nationals during the coup. Am I suppose to blow off the pain of the people of Chile?
Thank you for the depth of your compassion. :(

[shadowknows69]

4. Hi, over here!

I can't remember what I had for lunch somedays but I can't get rid of seeing that live on TV as it happened. Even more than the event itself I'm traumatized about what evil men did to exploit that horrible attack.

[pipi_k]

6. Oh god, amen to that

The act was bad enough...they blamed it on "foreign terrorists"

Then the evil men...Americans...used it for their own gain.

They're still using that day to push the fear button in all of us. Sometimes I wonder what they'll do next to make us afraid and controllable...

[kayell]

17. Turn off the TV. I have found that a big help to prevent the button pushing.

I turned mine off on the 3rd day of "shock and awe" and haven't turned on since other than to play old videos. TV is used very deliberately to create a feeling of anxiety, arousal and helplessness. Turning it off hasn't cured all the old effects of the constant barrage of propaganda and FEAR but it sure has helped to prevent new ones.

With video websites, constant online access to world-wide news etc. there is no need to subject yourself to that barrage of corporate and governmental brainwashing.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. And as with most important events that profoundly affect our lives...

...what was presented to us on our TV screens that day was not anywhere close to an accurate account of what actually took place, but rather a colossal lie of such proportion that most people simply refuse to entertain the idea.

It's been seven years -- high time we start enlightening the shadows for all to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ROZEt0ugw

[halobeam]

7. Just a month ago, a lightning bolt struck quite near to me, out of a clear blue sky.

I was driving on a main road, making a left turn... no dark sky in the distance that I could see. The "bang" was so loud, it sounded exactly like an explosion. It didn't register immediately that it was lightening and I waited to see if there was one more, then it wasn't an "accident". It brought me back right to the morning of Sept. 11th. I had that same thought, and it shook me to the core. Even after when it all was clear to me, what happened (lightening), I just fell apart.

I cried more though for those who have felt these feelings ever since, and even more for vets who have this disorder. I knew (intellectually) what PTSD was, unaware I had a slight case of it myself.

I wasn't in the city that day, I'm on Long Island. I gathered the kids from school, and stayed w/ people until they knew their loved were okay; some weren't. Teachers here lost spouses and siblings, kids lost parents, aunts or uncles... Friends lost family.

70,000 is just plain bullshit.

[shadowknows69]

8. Holy crap!!! You should play the lottery immediately!!!

[atomic-fly]

10. Remember folks talking about McCains PTSD and the key jingling?

Remember folks talking about McCains PTSD and the key jingling?

Well, the news media have been jingling keys at us since 9/11.
They play that "breaking news sound/graphic". This is our "key" sound.

Of course the GOP produced a whole 9/11 rememberence video, that crossed the line
and intended to bring back that good ole feeling we had on the day of 9/11.

I've also suffered from the relentless denial of reality by the Republicans. I think
that's what gets to me most.

[Dover]

13. And just think how affected countries like Iraq and nations in Africa must be..

As horrible as 9/11 was, Iraq, several African nations, Afghanistan, etc. must make that look like just another day in the life...

How are THEY coping? I can't even imagine.

[cyberpj]

14. And how do we think the yearly minute by minute replays of that day on tv networks affect them?

Not that the rah rah R patriots seem to care about those people.

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. I'm on the WTC Health Registry

I don't remember any survey that could have tracked this, but what do i know. I wonder if my answers categorized me as PTSD behind it.