September 11

In some ways, social science can be very morbid. Large disasters make it possible to build statistical models of how people cope. After the September 11th attacks, multiple psychological studies were carried out in New York. Galea et al. (2003) found no gender effect in the incidence of PTSD related to the attacks, although DeLisi et al. (2003) found that women reported more trauma symptoms than men. Galea's study also found no gender difference in recovery speed from PTSD symptoms. This is surprising in relation to theories that women are more resilient (i.e. have an easier time "bouncing back") than men.

Stuber et al. (2002) found that boys were more likely than girls to receive counseling in regards to the attacks. Unsurprisingly, whether the parent was suffering PTSD symptoms was a greater predictor of whether the child received counseling than the child's own symptoms. Parents who had stronger reactions to the attacks were more likely to make sure their child received counseling, although many children received some sort of counseling through their schools. Interestingly, Stuber suggests that the difference in the children's reported symptoms (i.e. externalizing in boys, internalizing in girls) may be more attributable to parental bias than to difference in symptoms. Boys were less likely, for example, to have their parents report "sadness".

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I have never really been able to empathize with large scale disaster. I was more in awe of the reaction that the September 11th attacks caused than I was moved by the deaths, and I felt real lack in myself because of it. I wondered how everyone could be so upset that people they didn't know had died; it happens every day. I keep waiting to see if I will wake up one morning in horror and understand. I haven't yet, but I don't know if I'm disappointed or relieved about that.

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