ABSTRACT
The need for subsequent reexposure in memory to a disastrous event is proportional to the lack of antecedent preparation. Anticipation involves exposing oneself in imagination beforehand so that the event does not take one wholly by surprise and the edge is taken off its most terrifying effects. The inability to react adequately to a sudden extreme event at the moment when it strikes makes for delayed reactions. The tendency towards denial, which may persist for some time afterwards, as in feelings that it is all unreal, contributes to the same effect. The intrusion of a traumatic event into the neurotic situation, by making a new demand on emotional energies, may unbalance the defensive structure. Inhibited impulses may threaten to break through, rousing anxiety, and calling for further defensive measures. Disaster victims, as well as those who come in from nearby and are confronted with unaccustomed sights of devastation, are frequently quite conscious of the inability to react immediately.
