{"id":13596,"date":"2015-11-24T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T11:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=13596"},"modified":"2023-03-13T15:59:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T15:59:40","slug":"psychological-effects-of-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/psychological-effects-of-terrorism.htm","title":{"rendered":"Terrorism- Can Global Events Cause You Psychological Strain?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"psychological<\/a>

By: Guillaume Highwire<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

One can only imagine the profound psychological effects the tragic events in Paris must have had on the survivors and the families of those involved.<\/p>\n

But what about the rest of us? Those who were in an unaffected part of the city at the time, or who live in a neighbouring country and are merely reading the news daily? <\/strong>Can we, too, suffer the psychological effects of terrorism? <\/strong><\/p>\n

News of terrorism \u2013 is it causing you anxiety?<\/h3>\n

It’s true that it can feel selfish and insensitive to admit to any psychological suffering from terrorism while you are alive and well<\/strong> and others in the world weren’t so lucky.<\/p>\n

At the same time the psychological effects of terrorism on society at large are real and important<\/strong>, and the subject of ongoing research.<\/p>\n

Terrorism leads to a rise of a type of negative thinking<\/a><\/span> or ‘cognitive distortion<\/a><\/span>‘ known as ‘catastrophising’.<\/strong> Catastrophising is when we not only think obsessively about the event, but magnify it into something bigger and more ominous, as well as predict many future negative outcomes that leave us feeling helpless.<\/p>\n

Researchers at Harvard medical school linked negative thinking about terrorism so strongly to mental health issues including anxiety<\/a>, depression<\/a>, and low self-esteem<\/a> that they felt the need to create the \u201cTerrorism Catastrophising Scale (TCM)<\/a>\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"psychological<\/a>

By: Mike Licht<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

And for those who were in the vicinity of a terrorist attack, such as being in the city at the time, research proves that there are real psychological impacts.<\/strong> For example, a study in America<\/a> post the September 11 attacks found that close to to 10% of New Yorkers surveyed were still reporting major depression nine weeks later.<\/p>\n

As for the argument that we don’t have a right to feel so upset when in other countries people die from terrorism daily, psychologically, it doesn’t work this way. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the 2014 Global Terrorism Index<\/span> put out by the Institute for Economics and Peace, \u201ca terrorist incident killing one person is likely to have a greater psychological impact in a country with zero terrorist incidents than in a country like Iraq where terrorism is a regular, if not daily occurrence.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Psychological issues that can be triggered by news of terrorism<\/h3>\n

It’s normal to feel some anxiety after news of a terrorist attack.<\/strong> Terrorism claims the lives of everyday citizens we can all identify with, so we worry about the future safety or our own families and countries. And if it’s in our own city that the attack takes place, the anxiety might last for a few weeks.<\/p>\n

But if your worry and stress do not alleviate and your life does not get back to normal despite the world around you returning to a more typical pace,<\/strong> consider if you might be suffering from one of the following issues:<\/p>\n