Treating the Terror in Terrorism

Reports on the results of the testing of federal officials in the United States on their ability to respond to biological, chemical and radioactive agents following a series of mock terrorist attacks. Comments from Dickson Diamond, chief psychiatrist of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

By Lara Pullen, published on September 01, 2000

MENTAL HEALTH

If America were attacked by weapons of mass destruction, would any number of bandages heal our psychological wounds? Dickson Diamond, Ph.D., thinks not.

In a series of mock terrorist attacks performed earlier this year, the U.S. government tested top local, state and federal officials on their ability to respond to biological, chemical and radioactive agents. Many officials were pleased with the results, but Diamond, the Federal Bureau of Investigations' chief psychiatrist, worried that the attacks did not represent the emotional trauma of terrorism. "At the hospital," he reported after the mock attack, "a large number of physicians [were] standing by to help out, [but] none of the psychiatrists were notified to be part of the exercise."

This alarming oversight vexes experts who anticipate that approximately 80% of casualties are psychological, including paranoia, vicarious psychiatric trauma and mass panic, while only 20% result from direct physical contact with the weapon.

Diamond urged attendees at the recent American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting to express concern about America's incapacity to handle the mental scarring that weapons of mass destruction can cause, and he travels nationwide to educate psychologists about the need for their participation in any attacks. "If mental health professionals don't understand the threat, they can't be of help," he explains.

ILLUSTRATION (COLOR)

Adapted by Ph.D.