ABSTRACT
RESEARCH ON NATURAL AND HUMAN-CAUSED DISASTERS CLEARLY INDICATES that the psychological reactions following human-caused disasters, such as terrorism, are more frequent, more intense, and more prolonged than psychological reactions following natural disasters. The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (1999) found that 5 years post-civilian terrorism attack, 30.7% of injured victims and 10.5% of uninjured victims suffered from PTSD. The same study found PTSD rates exceeding 40% in other civilian terrorist attacks. North et al. (1999) studied the psychiatric impact of the Oklahoma City bombing on 182 injured survivors of the direct blast. They found that 45% of the subjects had a postdisaster psychiatric disorder, with 34% having PTSD and 22% having major depression. Norris et al. (2002), in their review of 20 years of research on the mental health impacts of disaster, found mass violence to be the most disturbing type of disaster, with 67% of the population severely impaired compared to 39% who experienced technological disasters and 34% who experienced natural disasters.
