emull255-blog - Tumblr blog

emull255-blog · 6 years

Text

I have grown up in New York City all of my life. Although I walk around the city with an ease and bounce in my movement, there are certain aspects of my hometown that leave me feeling on edge. Growing up, I lived in TriBeCa, a small neighborhood on the lower west side located in a ten-minute walking distance away from the World Trade Center. On the morning of September 11th, 2001, I was only three years old, but the historical and tragic event is one that shiftED the lives of myself and those around me. As I grew older I was constantly reminded about the events of that tragic day. As the events took place so close to me, there was a reminder every day that I walked through the neighborhood. Whether that be through the skyline that now seemed absent until the construction of One World Trade Center, or whether it was the number of tourists and police men who now surrounded the area, the events of that day seem almost inescapable.

Although I always felt like the was never an immediate need for panic or fear when living in this neighborhood years follow the attack, it always felt as though there was a reason to not feel completely comfortable. In 2011 I moved closer to the World Trade Center, directly across the street in fact. Due to NYC Public School Zoning, my mother believed that this move would be the most beneficial for our family due to the fact that my brother could now attend the local middle school. Ten years after the attack, this movement still felt unsafe and haunting for me. Living across the sight where so many lost their lives made me feel vulnerable and uneasy. The view of One World Trade Center from my living room window, although a view that marked both strength and hope, also marked one of remembrance and historical importance.

As we made the move a little further downtown, my neighborhood was now shifting and my train station changed along with that. As I began to take the train alone in middle school, it brought among a sense of independence yet a strong presence of vulnerability. As I took the train home every day from 34thstreet to One World Trade Center, my senses became heightened and my brain would run at a hundred miles a minute. As each stop drew closer and closer to One World Trade Center my heart would leap. As my heartbeat rose and the sweat began to collect on my forehead, I followed this feeling and immediately leaped out of the train at Canal Street, one stop away from my desired location. By doing this I had resulted in a fifteen-minute walk to my home, a drastic factor from the two-minute walk that would have taken place from the One World Trade Center stop, but I frequently took this journey as a mental precaution to protect my own anxiety and fears that arose by placing myself in an environment where a harsh act of violence and terror had once occurred. Eight years later, I became lucky enough to receive a summer job opportunity working in One World Trade Center on the 25thfloor. Although I had learned to cope with the anxiety that I once felt through living in this neighborhood, there were some moments over the summer that I would find myself feeling claustrophobic and freighted in a space where so many lives once stood before me.

The events that occurred on 9/11, 2001, shaped thousands of lives all across the nation. Through living in the city I have experienced these circumstances first hand, although on a smaller scale than most. within our society the discussion of anxiety and stress is slowly a topic of mental health that our society is being more accustomed to, and for many, this makes the events of 9/11 difficult and inescapable seventeen years after the attack. As we all integrate ourselves within a post 9/11 society, we must address the issues within a global and local scale that causes for issues of trauma and anxiety to arise. Issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression plague our society following these events. Following the events of 9/11, the American population must address the fact that terrorism is a form of psychological warfare rather than conventional military warfare and work to educate and understand the repercussions on mental health that are linked to these attacks.

The events of 9/11 greatly impacted America both politically and socially. Following the attacks, there was a prominent increase of homeland protection, and an increase in foreign policies. The attacks that occurred on this day were highly broadcasted around the world, footage that would be shown for generations to come and adding a sense of what is typically referred to as “collective trauma”. Following the attacks, President George Bush initiated a “War or Terror”, installing the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was established as a way to increase domestic surveillance in regard to immigration surveillance and national security as a whole. In an article regarding regarding life in a post 9/11 world titled, Reaction to 9/11,on History.com, it shares, “Despite such anti-terrorist measures, many Americans continued to feel uneasy. According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly half of all Americans reported symptoms of stress and depression after the attacks.”(History.com Editors, 2018). This report emphasizes the collective trauma felt by the country. As individuals within New York City and across the country examined the attacks following the events it made them feel vulnerable as a country, the footage causing feels of uneasiness and unrest. While the government and citizens of America worked to find ways to come together and stand as one through memorial services and collective programs working to support those directly affected, Americans could not help but feel as though a similar event may occur again. It is important to understand that terroristic acts such as this step outside the lines of what is typically considered military warfare. A core factor and motivation behind acts of terrorism is the act of surprise in order instill fear. It is the fear and psychological manipulation of these acts that cause those effected to question their safety and their over well-being. While President Bush worked to establish military fronts and precautions for the nation, the attack alone left citizens with a fearful expectation that another attack is bound to occur. It is here that the psychological warfare takes its full effect. Before 9/11, the most recent large spread attack on American soil had been the event of Pearl Harbor during World War II. 9/11 marked a shift in terror acts due to the fact that it took place its multiple places across the country, specifically in the heart of New York City. Both of these attacks were not expected, but the attack of 9/11 struck the United States in a time where the country was not aware that they should possess any feelings of vulnerability.

For those who witnessed and experienced these events, one of the most prominent factors of mental illness that factored from these sights and occurrences is PTSD. As Dana Rose Garfin writes in her piece How the Pain of 9/11 Stays With a Generation, “Post-traumatic stress symptoms include feeling the event is happening again (e.g., flashbacks, nightmares), avoiding situations that remind individuals of the event (e.g., public places, movies about an event), negative feelings and beliefs (e.g., the world is dangerous) or feeling “keyed up” (e.g., difficulty sleeping or concentrating)”. Garfin continues to express that in order to being diagnosed with this disease, one must have experienced a traumatic event, typically through direct exposure. The feelings that are evoked from PTSD are the exact feelings that terrorists hope to evoke from the citizens they effect. The results of PTSD make even the simplest factors of life that once seemed normal- practically unimaginable or hard to deal with. For a 9/11 survivor, the sound of a fire engine horn can be enough to set extreme flashbacks and trigger emotional waves of anxiety. In an article written by CNN titled, The Psychology and Neuroscience of Terrorism,“Terrorism expert John Horgan agrees. "It's psychological warfare," he said. "Pure psychological warfare. They don't just want to frighten us or get us to overreact, they want to be always in our consciousness so that we believe there's nothing they won't do." (Lamotte, 2016). As I reflect on my own personal fear following the attack, the anxiety that I feel entering certain environments is very prominent. Whether it be quickening my pace as I walk past the One World Trade memorial, or avoiding the train spot all together. For first responders on the day of 9/11, their PTSD and trauma affects them in intense and heartbreaking ways, even making simple daily tasks sometimes unbearable.

Our country has definitely acknowledged the trauma of first responders who were there on the day of 9/11 both at the twin towers and the pentagon, although our country as a whole still must make strides to identify the psychological warfare. As we identify the issues of trauma and stress that are prevalent among first responders and those effected by the attack, we must take a step back to analyze how we can deal with this warfare on a psychological scale in the future. Growing up in New York City and examining the reaction of the public following the attack, it is clear to see that there is still psychological damage years after. There are key motivators of fear that terrorists work to gage on, and as New Yorkers and American’s across the country recognize the lives lost each anniversary, it is apparent that the memory and spirit of the attack and the lives lost still lives on. As years continue to pass and a young generation of post 9/11 children are educated on the topic- we must teach them and share what the role of terrorism plays within society beyond just the act of violence. Terrorist acts are a harsh and cruel reality of the world, one that shape societies and history. As time goes on it is important to educate, assist, and inform one another the mental and psychological traumas that can be the results of terroristic acts within our society. While military and political backing is important, we must re-emphasize the importance of understanding the effects that these traumas have on people and work to upkeep a society that can work as a community and mental support system. The realities of psychological warfare are real and prominent within our society, through identifying and recognizing these issues we can create a more supportive and prospering atmosphere.

2 notes · View notes