USD Magazine, Winter 2002

ability to function in daily life, however, counseling is probably a good idea. "People are amazingly resilient," says Keith, an expert on quality-of-life issues. "After a personal tragedy, studies show rhar a person's self-reported measure of happiness naturally dips, bur as soon as six months later ir is back to the original level. We can probably expect to see the much rhe same thing nationally." Keith's prediction is backed up in national surveys conducted by Pew Research Center, an independent opinion research group sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts. A survey conducted a week after rhe attacks found rhar 71 percent of adults questioned felt depressed, nearly half had difficulty con– centrating, and one-third reported trouble sleeping. On Oct. 4, however, rhe same study found markedly lower numbers: only 42 percent of respondents reported depres– sion, 21 percent had difficulty concentrating on work and 18 percent had trouble sleeping. By November, the center found that Americans' fear of terrorist acts was at nearly the same level as five years ago - 13 percent of Americans said they were very worried about being victimized by terrorism, and 27 per– cent said they were somewhat worried. Just as individuals shouldn't needlessly worry about their psychological reactions to the attacks, Hendershott warns that society should nor "psychologize" the actions of the terrorists. Ir may be convenient to think of rhe terrorists as crazy, she says, bur such a simple explanation doesn't get at rhe cause of their actions - and isn't likely to prevent similar tragedies. "People are amazingly resilient. After a personal tragedy, studies show that a person's self-reported measure of happiness naturally dips, but as soon as six months later it is back to the original level." -Professor Ken Keith , head of USD's psychology department ''Allegations that these acts are the product of a 'sick' mind relegates them to a status similar to rhar of accidents," Hendershott says. "This portrays rhe horror of terrorism as a product of an individual pathology - and prevents us from seeing the social structures rhar have been created to enable such evil. "

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WI N TER 2002