Bleich et al. Respond

Living with Terror, Not Living in Terror: The Impact of Chronic Terrorism on Israeli Society

“…[29] Terrorist campaigns can be expected to psychologically affect a sizeable portion of the population of a targeted society, either directly, by harming a person or their family, or indirectly, through the extensive media coverage of terrorist attacks. [30] The greater the number of attacks and the more lethal those attacks are, the more people that will be psychologically affected by them. Terrorism is a form of psychological warfare against a society.…”

“…In total, a staggering 44.4 percent of the Israeli population was exposed to a terrorist attack. [39] With terrorist attacks affecting so many people, it is not surprising that they resulted in widespread psychological problems. More than a third of Israelis who participated in a major psychological study reported at least one traumatic stress-related symptom (TSR), with an average of four symptoms reported per person.…”

“…Despite experiencing numerous traumatic events during the second Intifada, which should logically cause progressively more psychological damage, the rate of PTSD symptoms among the Israeli population remained at a fairly low level. [50] This was the case despite the fact that 60 percent of Israelis believed that their lives were in danger, and 68 percent believed the same about the lives of their family and friends. [51] The explanation for this lies in what is known as the accommodation effect.…”

“…[52] The accommodation effect means that the amount of stress created by recurring traumatic events actually decreases. [53] Hence, as terrorism becomes a regular occurrence, a process of habituation and de-sensitization may occur, and people become able to maintain a semblance of a normal life. [54] This suggests that people can learn to live with terrorism and psychologically cope with it.…”