Psychological And Chronic Health Effects Associated With Exposure

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is “a mental condition that can affect a person who has had a very shocking or difficult experience and that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, etc.” (Merriam-Webster’s, n.d.) Post-traumatic stress disorder can occur after seeing a dangerous event such as war, hurricanes, car accidents, death of a loved one, and violent crimes. It can affect a victim mind, body, and the people around them. While some mental disorders are genetic, this disorder come from the things that people encounter in life. This paper will discuss the risk factor involved with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as treatments that will help overcome it and future research and approaches to treat this psychiatric illness.

The aftermath of 9/11 affected many people across the country in different ways. The health of many that were near ground zero was negatively affected. There was a new found patriotism that arose from the despair, and people became more aware of their surroundings. As a result of the devastation brought on by 9/11, anyone within a reasonable distance of Ground Zero at the time of the towers’ collapse would have been exposed to the dust. The dust and debris contained numerous harmful chemicals which eventually led to health problems for those exposed to them. In addition, many concerned volunteers, contractors, and rescue workers were brought in from around the country to help in the recovery/clean-up effort at ground zero. These people were exposed to the fumes of smoldering fires as well as the dust, resulting in many health problems as well. Respiratory issues are among the most common, but many also suffer from mental trauma such as post traumatic stress disorder and depression (Geller). A good consequence

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long

These men and women risked their lives to try to save the thousands of men, women, and children trapped inside the Murrah building. In assumption people would think this traumatic experience of trying to recover lives after the explosion would not only be very heartbreaking, but very traumatic also. Surprisingly, from all the rescue workers only 13% (24/181) were diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (North). A test was approved and ran by the Washington University School of Medicine Institutional Review Board (North). This test involved the first group of firefighters who were involved with the bombing victims (North). These firefighters are the ones who helped recover bodies and body parts from the rubble of the bombing (North). “Two-thirds (68%) reported feeling somewhat or very upset by either or both of these activities, although many (36%) described removing the bodies as providing a sense of relief and closure to their evacuation work. Firefighters acknowledged feeling somewhat or very upset by contact with body parts (54%) and body fluids (36%), but encounters with children’s remains (72% of total sample) had the highest rating of associated upset”

On September 11, a plane crashed into The World Trade Center, demolishing both buildings. Many people were affected by this tragedy, some even were diagnosed with cancer from trying to clean up ground zero. There are speculations that the people who did have health issues were the ones not wearing the respirators, and many died because of not protecting themselves from the dangerous fumes. Some did not realize that, it could be the last day they might see their families and rushed out without saying goodbyes for the last time. There was little help provided to the sick workers. The lawyers of the workers treat them more as heros then the people who employed them to help clean up after the World Trade Center attack. There were many rising concerns given after the attack and a vast majority of people wish those concerns would be addressed.

UMHCN 10 - 11 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: results from 2011 - 2012 World Trade Center Health Registry

The Zadroga Act allocated $4.2 billion to create the World Trade Center Health Program to provide testing and treatment for people who worked in response and recovery operations as well as for survivors. Disasters expose the general population and responders to a range of potential contaminants and stressors, which may harm physical and mental health. The unprecedented toxic release in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, created one of the worst environmental disasters, suffering from severe illness, such as cancer, respiratory disease, and other life-threatening illnesses without proper coverage to received the necessary treatment.

The disaster of The World Trade Center on 9/11 had a big impact on the enviroment and the lives of people in New York City. Dust clouds rose 1,200 feet up covering the city up to a mile away, as far as Brooklyn and Staten Island. Toxic air filled with contaminants such as Asbestos, heavy metals and fiberglass.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, life for the first responders and those in New York at the time was not the same. First responders on scene have it worst out of all. “The September 11, 2001 (9/11), terrorist attacks were unprecedented in their magnitude and aftermath. In the wake of the attacks, researchers reported a wide range of mental and physical health outcomes, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) the one most commonly studied” (Neria 1). As mentioned from the quote above from an online article written by Yuval Neria, many of the first responders suffer from the stages of PTSD, and in severe cases some may suffer from cancer from all of the debris and concrete inhaled by them. Besides the horrible effects on the first

This type of attack has elevated to the point of a serious population of health. We must identify areas that need additional study, and come to one accord that will help with the analysis where these disasters might invade, such as the 911 attack (Galae, Nandi, & Vlahov, 2005). In 2004 during the catastrophic tsunami in Sri Lanka, PTSD had increased significantly among survivors. In addition the Hurricane Katrina survivors had encountered PTSD. The hurricane demolished New Orleans in the summer of August 2005. Psychologist noticed extensive panic attacks, depression, anxiety, and PTSD among the population of Israel and Palestinian This violent attack took place at al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. Children who resided on the Gaza Strip, encountered behavioral disorders, waking up to nightmares, and extensive bedwetting. In 2011 before the tsunami earthquake that caused heavy flooding up to 6 miles inland, Japanese college students had Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans taken, and three months later had another MRI done again three months later, those students had experienced disturbing memories, which displayed symptoms of PTSD. Disasters effects both physiological and psychological are strictly observed by health psychologists. The Boston marathon in 2013 brought about this scrutiny, which the explosion killed three people and injured over 170 people, both experts of mental health and health psychologists teamed together and anticipated that after that torture a few witnesses may have experienced a flashback for a while, to which some people may encounter PTSD longer than others (Straub,

During The 9/11 tragedies many people know it was definitely one of the worst things that happened in the US. On any given workday, up to 50,000 employees worked in the World Trade Center twin towers and an additional 40,000 passed through the complex, and more than 400 casualties were police officers and fighters, and over 10,000 people were treated for injuries after the attack (“11 facts about 9/11”). Although it may seem as though many people lost their lives in this tragic event, we have

Health effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks were almost non-existent at first, but years and years of study showed that people who worked around the debris from long periods of time are much more likely to develop PTSD. Some heart conditions and respiratory disease have been linked to the September 11, 2001 attacks, but nothing has been proven. Some mental illness exists as a result of the attacks, but 80% of the mental illness was caused from being hit in the head with debris or from actually falling with the tower. (NYC Health)

There are many different kinds of lung conditions that have shown an increase in occupancy in people that were around when the twin towers fell. Some examples are Reactive Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS), World Trade Center Cough, Acute Eosinophilic, Pneumonia, Laryngitis, Granulomatous Pneumonitis, Sarcoidosis, Bronchiolitis Obliterans, Asthma, Bronchitis, and Pleural Mesothelioma to name a few. All of these lung conditions make life harder for people with them. These conditions make it difficult to breath causing symptoms ranging from breathlessness, consistent coughing, wheezing, acid reflux, nasal congestion, shortness of breath with rapid onset, fatigue, night sweats, fever, unintended weight loss, and diminished lung function. People with these types of conditions usually have trouble with working out, walking long distances, stairs, and have to use medications to help them with day to day living. Both my daughter and my mother have asthma. They have to carry inhalers and have a breathing treatment machine at home and a portable one to take with them.

Post traumatic stress disorder is an acute stress disorder caused by experiencing an extremely traumatic event which develops within the first hours or days after a traumatic event. Some people who may experience PTSD are soldiers who have been in war and people who have been raped or had near-death experiences. In our textbook, PTSD is define as an anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience (Myers,2008). After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, some people were afraid to board airplanes and the security protocols at the border and airports were tighten to

Professor Alexander is now director of the Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research at Robert Gordon University. Ten years after the disaster he managed to find 46 of the survivors; they took the part in the study group on the long term psychological effect of Piper Alpha disaster and PTSD. They agreed to give interviews and completed questionnaires, the study showed that: 97% of the group reported psychological problems (Hull, Alexander, Klein 2002) Some of them needed individual therapy to deal with PTSD and had prescribed medication (Hull, Alexander, Klein 2002).