What are the psychological and societal impacts of terror attacks? As countries all around the world continue to be faced with repeated deadly attacks, AFP spoke with survivors and experts about post-traumatic stress disorder, and how an individual, but also a society as a whole, recovers from the consequences of attacks.

#AFP


Subscribe to AFP and activate your notifications to get the latest news 🔔
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC86dbj-lbDks_hZ5gRKL49Q/?sub_confirmation=1




























SCRIPT ------
Catherine Bertrand was at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris on the 13 of November 2015 when three men burst into the building and began blindly shooting into the crowd. The concert raid was part of a series of coordinated attackS that left 130 people dead and hundreds more injured. Since then, dozens of attacks have continued to hit countries all around the world. They have left entire communities reeling and thousands of individuals suffering from visible injuries but also invisible ones like anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorders. In countries facing repeated violence like Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq little research has been conducted. But in the West, studies have multiplied since the 9/11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon where almost 3,000 people died. For example in France, researchers found that half of the survivors of the 2015 Paris attacks went on to develop a post-traumatic stress disorder. Following a traumatic event, people with PTSD suffer from intrusive memories they cannot control. These are often in the form of vivid flashbacks or nightmares and are often accompanied by the same fear and anxiety they felt at the time. PTSD can be a seriously debilitating condition that can last weeks, months or even years. And now neuroscientists have gone even further into the brain to understand this condition better.

For people with PTSD, new attacks can take them back in time and sometimes bring back an old trauma.

Exposure to violent images on television or social media can worsen a condition or in some people cause PTSD-like symptoms. After the 2013 bombings in Boston researchers found that six or more daily hours of bombing-related media exposure in the week after the events was actually associated with higher acute stress than those with direct exposure to the attack.

Thankfully, most of us are resilient. Resilience at the individual level is the ability to adapt in the face of stress and trauma.

Attacks impact the mental health of individuals, but can also have other effects at the societal level. Sociologists have realised that following an attack, a similar pattern occurs. After 9/11, American sociologist Randall Collins was the first to outline it. Firstly, there are an initial few days of shock. People are emotionally stunned. It's the calm before the storm. Then comes a massive outpouring of solidarity. The media continues extensive coverage and we see displays of national symbols and solidarity both on the streets and social media. The attack can also cause collective hysteria giving people a heightened sense of danger. This hysteria can last for two to three months and can move certain individuals to carry out other attacks, propagate false alarms or hoaxes. According to sociologists, this is the most dangerous period. A return to normalcy can take between six to nine months, but attacks can also have other longer lasting effects.

A repetition of attacks, no matter where or when, puts societies to the test. But researchers have found that the impact of a shock could actually be reduced even before it happens.