PTSD and 9/11

Many people on September 11th, 2001 experienced something most people never should. 15 years later and people are still being diagnosed with PTSD from this disaster. In a New York Times article, Dr. Margaret Dessau relives the story by explaining what she saw, “The flames get worse, and then I start seeing all these people hanging out there. The guy with this white towel, and he’s waving it.” She goes on to say that the man jumped and kids of a nearby school screamed in fear. Dessau was only eight blocks away from the crash site, so close that she could see the planes crash into the twin towers. During the following weeks of 9/11, Dessau and many others reported strange symptoms of restlessness, anxiety, reliving the event, etc. Since that day occurred, many of the direct victims of the attack would do anything to avoid the topic of the terrible event. Thankfully, in December 2010, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act was passed by congress. This act alone designated $4.3 billion to treat people with PTSD and other related illnesses of 9/11. Since this terrible day, PTSD has affected way more than just the military. There were hundreds of emergency responders and other civilians that hopelessly searched through the debris. But, there were also residents, office workers, commuters, children in schools, and many others that were all caught in the bid dust cloud. In total, nearly 3,000 people were killed and 6,000 were wounded in the 9/11 attacks.

Since PTSD is typically caused from a dramatic event sin one’s life, one of the usual symptoms is to avoid wherever that occurrence took place. For example, if you got into a very bad car collision, it would probably be very difficult to get into a car or drive a car and not be apprehensive about it. In war, since it is not on America, it can be argued that it is easier to treat war veterans because they have completely removed themselves from the location and/or characteristics of the setting. However, for the 9/11 victims, the location is in the heart of New York at the World Trade Center. Many people work there, live there, and walk by every day. It is a public space that is heavily populated. For these reasons, many people that survived the 9/11 attacks had to quit their jobs and find new ones in completely different cities. For the people that chose not to move, it was still extremely difficult to go back to work the following months. Since 2 entire buildings were in completely wrecked, it took about 9 months to entirely clean up the debris from 9/11. There was 1.8 million tons of wreckage and it took 3.1 millions hours of labor total. So, it is definitely not like the next day everything was cleaned up. In fact, for the following several months, the destroyed buildings remained and reminded everyone everyday of what happened. Imagine surviving an event like 9/11 and then having to go back at work and be reminded of everyone you lost that day.

We must never forget 9/11. Because of that day, our lives will never be same again.