In this article the authors consider the phenomenon of stigmatization as one of the unfavorable socio-psychological results of emergency situations raising the level of personality vulnerability though not studied enough so far. A study was made to reveal stigmatization with relation to persons who had suffered from emergency situations, among the inhabitants of the two regions exposed to terroristic attacks: that of North Ossetiya (the town of Beslan and the city of Vladikavkaz) and the Central Region (the city of Moscow). Analysis of the obtained data permitted one to make a conclusion of the presence of signs of stigmatization in both groups of respondents, of insufficient awareness in society of the specificities of individual forms of response to stress, of manifestations of post-stress mental disorders, as well as a transfer of social stereotypes related to persons with mental disorders to the victims. Socio-demographic factors causing outward stigmatization have been defined. A degree of expression of stigmatization tendencies depends on a respondent’s social status as well as on the past traumatic experience.

One of the serious social and psychological aftermaths of the terrorist threat is the formation of various mental disorders in the population of countries been exposed to terrorist attacks. The variety of mental impacts of the terrorist threat aftermath is extremely wide - from frustration and mental responses to some serious mental disorders. Long-term emotional tension, uncertainty, fear of death often lead to a decrease in the social functioning of individuals, and as a result, the whole society. At the same time, specific symptoms occur not only in the early stages of experiencing the terrorist threat, but also, often, progress in the delayed period, mainly in the form of affective disorders, psychosomatic pathology, chronic post-stress changes in the personality. The article reviews and analyzes the nature of the response of society as a whole and its individual groups, the impact of professional and national factors on the perception of the terrorist threat in various countries of the world over the past twenty years.