The Day After Terror — What might happen and how to overcome it

19 years ago on September 11 2001, the terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in the United States dramatically changed the world, and started the “War on Terror”. It is a good time to reflect and think about what might happen if a terrorist attack were to happen again, and what we should do to remain resilient.

What Might Happen?

By design, terrorist attacks are intended to have a psychological impact far outweighing the physical damage the attack causes…. The panic and hysteria response to a terrorist attack allows them to obtain a maximum return on their physical effort. This was partly quoted from Borum, 2004; Stewart, 2012.

Besides death and injury, in the months after a attack, psychological distress, social disharmony, divides in society and social mistrust will start to seep in. So what are some of the strategies that we needed to sustain the society’s resilience after a terrorist attack?

1- Restoring Trust

There is a high likelihood of increased hate crime post-terror attacks. This is due to the increase in attitudes of discrimination and mistrust.

In 2015, after the November Paris attacks, there is a jump in US hate crime from 178 to 301. The increase in rate levels is not seen since 9/11.

So what can we do? As a society, we should widen the boundaries of identity. This can be done by increasing overlaps to make groups more relatable, which in this case, applies to racial and religious categories.

We could also reinforce a collective identity post crisis. Eg. uniting the people of a country, and reminding them that victimised groups have as much a stake as others.

We should also help one another, especially those from other race and religion. This can be done by identifying vulnerable members in the community and providing a listening ear to those in distress.

At the same time, respect others’ racial and religious beliefs by not associating any acts of violent extremism with any other religion, race or ethnicity. Identify issues and deal with them before they escalate and if needed, clamp down on rumours to prevent any discrimination and distrust. We should always tackle rumours with facts and deal with it promptly.

2 — Provide Timely Information

When disaster strikes, speculation and unverified information will increase tenfold. We must remain factual when providing timely information and not spread rumours. Of course, we also must communicate the crisis as it is and not be too over-assuring.

3 — Understanding and Providing Psychological First Aid

From Fetter, 2005, some of the psychological consequences of a terror attack includes anxiety, survivor guilt, grief, withdrawal and post traumatic stress disorder, or also known as PTSD. Post 9/11, there were reports of PTSD and the needs to address this psychological stress.

Here comes Psychological First Aid (PFA). To define PFA, it is a way to address the psychological and emotional stress experienced by people in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic incident. This is not considered a professional counselling or therapy and it can be performed by non-professionals.

Lastly, it is important to take care of yourselves and your close ones. Be there for them, be sensitive, communicate and work together.