Psychology of Disaster: A Study of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina

This essay examines the psychological impacts of disasters, specifically focusing on the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. It discusses the negative effects on the human mind, including stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression. The essay highlights how these events affected social issues, the economy, and decision-making processes. It further explores the intervention strategies employed by local resources, the Red Cross, and non-profit organizations in assisting victims. The long-term effects, such as persistent distress, avoidance behaviors, and substance abuse, are also analyzed, with a particular emphasis on the vulnerability of women and children. Finally, the critical role of the media in disseminating information and facilitating timely intervention is acknowledged. This essay was contributed by a student and is available on Desklib, a platform offering AI-based study tools and a wide range of academic resources for students.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY 1
Psychology of Disaster
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Running head: PSYCHOLOGY 2
PSYCHOLOGY OF DISASTER
Whenever a disaster strikes there must be an effect to human mind due to change of normal
operation since one need to react to the changes in order to coup up with ongoing situation.
Disasters like terrorist attacks and hurricanes majorly have negative impacts that always leads to
lose of properties and lives, destruction of plants and land degradation. When they strike they
have psychological symptoms that people experience like stress due to lose of properties and
death.
In occurrence of terrorist attack, the social issues are affected since people cannot easily come
together from different communities due to fear of their lives, at the same time the economy of a
given nation is negatively affected since there is no free flow of goods and services to the market
due to attacks leading to decline of the economy. The terrorist attack that took place in the World
Trade Center in New York counteracted the decision making where people could make less risky
decisions in order to compensate for the insecurity feelings caused by the disaster and at the
same time caused posttraumatic stress disorder due to indirect exposure to the media (Galletto,
K, & E, (2003)).
Hurricane is composed of strong moving wind at high speed accompanied by heavy rains
lightning and thunder, its impact leads to massive destructions to buildings, plants, floods, fire
out break and lose of peoples’ lives (Bettinger & L 2010). Research shows how the mentioned
disasters affect the psychology of people negatively in the year 2001 where terrorist attack led to
life stressors, life time experience of traumatic events, panic attacks, post event concerns and
posttraumatic stress disorder and depression (Galea, R, & T, (2007)).

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY 3
Through the intervention of local resources, Red Cross and non-profit organizational resources
the victims were assisted, by quick intervention and rushing some to the hospitals, government
intensifying the security and those displaced being offered free gifts like refugee camps where
they are supplied with food, bedding and treatment facilities.
Through these calamities they yielded the long term effects on the residences watching video
clips that occurred in September 11th 2001 continues to arose the emotions and this cultivates the
posttraumatic stress disorder to individuals who had a view of this events, while others who
interacted directly to the disaster by watching people jumping and falling from high buildings
were more likely to be affected, the ones who lost their beloved ones were more depressed and
the police officers too were examined of mental problem due to close interaction with the victims
(. Harris & D, 2012).
Adults with persistent distress could not manage their jobs, others avoided public gatherings, and
some subjected themselves to medications, alcoholism and other drugs to bring repose in their
mind. Women were reported to be at high risk double of men. This is because in such cases
some women are found pregnant hence it’s a burden for their escape, some who are
breastfeeding is more difficult for them to accompany themselves with their babies in urgency.
It’s more known that women feel the gravity of their children and when they witness their
children dying it sounds more sorrowful to them and such scenes are ever in their memory
leading to distress. Children are always left in a sense of loneliness and tumor, it also resulted to
lose of parents leaving children homeless and helpless.
The media played a critical role during these times since they could help in channeling the
information to the government from local areas calling for their intervention and could make

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY 4
people aware of the changes of weather for them to make prior arrangement of migration that in
turn saved so many people’s lives.
References
. Harris, M. L.-3., & D, S. S. (2012). Longitudinal mental health impact among police responders to the
9/11 terrorist attack. American journal of industrial medicine, 55(4).
Galea, S. G.-1., R, B. C., & T, J. R. ((2007)). Exposure to hurricane-related stressors and mental illness
after Hurricane Katrina. Archives of general psychiatry, 64(12).
Galletto, V. &.-1., K, S., & E, B. ((2003)). How has the 9/11 terrorist attack influenced decision making?
Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory
and Cognition, 17(9).
Bettinger, Pete; Merry, Krista L.; Grebner, Donald L. (2010). Impacts of strong winds event. Database