Reopening Old Wounds

There are three classes of symptoms. The first are what are called intrusion symptoms, things like nightmares, flashbacks, feeling as though it's happening all over again. It's intrusive thoughts—you can't get it out of your mind. You know, you want to go do something else but you can't stop thinking about it. The second are what are called avoidance or numbing symptoms. You find that you are trying to keep yourself from thinking about it, you avoid going to places that remind you of the traumatic event, you feel numb, you can't enjoy things you used to. And some people have literally trouble consciously remembering aspects of the event. The third type are what are called hyperarousal, irritability symptoms. You find yourself being irritable, you jump at a loud noise, you're restless, you don't sleep well, that kind of thing.

Tell me about your findings when you studied the posttraumatic stress levels in people after 9/11.

We found that people who were emotionally open, cognitively flexible and socially supported did better. So if you were less trying to sort of pretend everything was fine and act like you weren't angry, fearful or sad, if you had people around you, if you had bigger social networks where people would let you talk, you did better. If you were flexible, if you were willing to say, "This causes me to rethink my goals and values in life"—other than people who just wanted to go back to the way it was—tended to do better.

© 2006