Dealing with terror

FITNESS

The Mumbai siege has a psychological impact on those who watched its coverage.

Every few months we citizens are exposed to mass death. It doesn’t happen at a distance, it happens in our towns and neighbourhoods. This kind of violence has made victims and witnesses of us all, whether or not we ourselves or people we know are directly affected by the bloodshed.

Disaster is not a rarity. We know that earthquakes, floods, fires, tsunamis and cyclones happen, and thanks to TV and Internet we can watch events unfold in real time. But those are natural disasters, not man-made ones. There is something much worse, more deeply unsettling, about the deliberate and willing infliction of suffering.

“Acts of terrorism against individuals, institutions, and revered cultural symbols create feelings of vulnerability through their threat to life, bodily integrity, security, and self-image,” write Robert J Ursano and others in an important book on disasters and trauma.

That could have been written specifically about the latest Mumbai attacks. “People want to feel safe,” the authors go on, “to experience the environment as stable and predictable. We are often not aware of feelings of safety until something happens to threaten our feeling safe.”

When we lose that sense of safety, a fundamental underpinning of our lives is uprooted. There are other, related effects that you may not recognise, but mental health professionals know to expect — such as increased irritability and aggression, confusion, nightmares, a fear of being alone or of leaving the home, a sensitivity to loud noises and even an upturn in the consumption of alcohol or other drugs.

As the news broke, you may have felt your heart pound faster, your mouth go dry and your muscles tense. Mentally, you may have experienced a sense of unreality and shock. In the longer term — days or weeks — your belief in a basically benevolent world may be shaken, along with your trust in your ability to cope with adversity. You may feel vulnerable, helpless, and even depressed. As Gurgaon resident Akshay Gupta says, after three days of tense TV, “The anger is still within.”

Time heals wounds, but not overnight. Talking about your worries and spending time with sympathetic friends and family is thought to help. Try listening to the radio — All-India Radio has asked its RJs to play quiet, soothing songs. Most important, keep to your daily routine, to reassure yourself that normal life can go on.