The Mental Health Consequences of Terrorism: Implications for Emergency Medicine Practitioners

Abstract

Emergency physicians are likely to be first-line responders in any local or regional terrorist event. In addition to preparing for the potential physical conditions and injuries that are associated with terrorism, they should be aware of the behavioral and mental health implications as well. It is helpful to be familiar with the characteristics that predict who may be at increased risk for mental illness after such events and how they may be identified in an Emergency Department setting. Although most people in the general population with behavioral conditions stemming from a terrorist event can be expected to recover spontaneously within several months, other individuals are at increased risk of developing more debilitating mental health conditions that have been associated with post-terrorist and disaster environments. Screening tools are available to help emergency practitioners identify them and refer patients for more formal psychiatric evaluation and potential interventions to facilitate and speed the recovery process.

Development and validation of the Continuous Traumatic Stress Response scale (CTSR) among adults exposed to ongoing security threats

“…Most research examining the consequences of ongoing exposure to security threats has focused on narrower personal resources and symptom clusters. These included sleep problems [ 24 ], resilience [ 25 ], adult attachment [ 26 ], satisfaction with life, prejudicial attitudes [ 27 ], sense of safety, optimism, help-seeking [ 28 ], anxiety, depression, posttraumatic recovery [ 29 , 30 ], and physical health [ 22 , 31 ]. Itzhaky et al [ 10 ], identified distinct psychiatric symptom profiles associated with CTS exposure, in addition to PTSD diagnostic criteria.…”

The Role of Education in Pakistan: Millennium Development Goal

“…Now we discuss psychiatric response of violence. Potential physical condition and debilitating mental health are the main factors of suicidal attacks and violence and hence are responsible for every terrorist activities (DiMaggio, Madrid, Loo, & Galea, 2008;Loza, 2007;Valentiner, Gutierrez, & Blacker, 2002;Evans, Hawton, & Rodham, 2004;Gupta, Avasthi, Grover, & Singh, 2014;Cleary, 2012;Bader & Schuster;Somerville, Purcell, & Morrison, 2011;Wali, Sritharan, Mehes, Abdullah, & Rasheed, 2014;Fremont, Pataki, & Beresin, 2005;Hayes, 2002). Bograkos (2012) discusses that there is close relationship between international terrorism and transnational organized crimes such as illicit drugs, money laundering, illegal arms trafficking and illegal movement of nuclear armaments.…”

Cross-sectional survey on self-reported health of ambulance personnel

“…It is well known that the helping (assisting) professions are considered high-risk population for mental illness regarding every part of their daily work. They have to deal with the high degree of stress and traumatic experiences, and processing these experiences have large burden on them [ 17 - 19 ]. A 2004 British study [ 20 ] examining the PTSD presents among assistive medical attendants revealed that the prevalence of the disease is higher among ambulance workers than among emergency department members (p < 0.05).…”