70,000 May Suffer Post-9/11 Stress Disorder

[Family Ties Forever!]

link

Study: 70K May Suffer Post-9/11 Stress Disorder
Estimate Includes Rescue Workers, Residents, Commuters

Posted: 8:31 pm CDT September 10, 2008

New York -- New data from a public health registry that tracks the health effects of 9/11 suggest that as many as 70,000 people may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the terrorist attacks.

The estimate, released Wednesday by New York City's Department of Health, is based on an analysis of the health of 71,437 people who enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry. They agreed to be tracked for up to 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the study was based on answers they volunteered about their health two and three years after the attack.

Of the estimated 400,000 people believed to have been heavily exposed to pollution from the disaster, data suggests that 35,000 to 70,000 people developed PTSD and 3,800 to 12,600 may have developed asthma, city health officials said.


They include rescue and recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, area workers, commuters and passers-by.

Overall, half of the respondents said they had been in the dust cloud from the collapsing towers; 70 percent witnessed a traumatic sight, such as a plane hitting the tower or falling bodies; and 13 percent sustained an injury that day.

"The consensus among physicians is that when it comes to physical health, the vast majority of people felt symptoms in the first year," said Lorna Thorpe, the deputy commissioner for epidemiology at the New York City Health Department. "A small proportion of people, however, developed symptoms years later. And in some cases, it's hard to tell whether they're World Trade Center-related or a result of allergies or existing conditions."

The post-traumatic stress disorder rate was highest among injured, low-income and Hispanic study volunteers. In general, minorities and low-income respondents experienced higher rates of mental and physical problems, as did women.

The study was conducted by the city health department and the federal Centers for Disease Control's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. It was released in the Journal of Urban Health.

The city offers free physical and mental health care to eligible people affected by the attacks.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Janice]

This doesn't surprise me. I don't have PTSD from 9/11, but I know I'll never be the same again, so I can only imagine how those who were there were affected. That day is just a giant mess in my mind. I can cry on cue, just thinking about it. I do my best not to think about, which I promised I'd never do. Never Forget. I'll just go crazy if I dwell on it.

[Lee]

Sad

[LuLu Rogers]

I'll never forget the girl who transferred to my school after 9/11. Her mother was working in one of the towers and her father was on one of the planes that hit the towers. She lost both parents in a matter of minutes and had to move here to Alabama to live with her aunt. Let me tell you, that girl is one of the strongest people I've ever known, she always had a smile on her face and it was so inspiring. I can't even begin to imagine what these families have gone through.

[Janice]

There are so many awful images of that day, but one just haunts me. This poor soul was trapped above where the planes hit in one of the Towers. He had to get out, so he was literally hanging on the side of the building. He had taken his jacket off and was trying to get to the bottom floors, using a piece of cloth. The poor man didn't know what he was doing, and he didn't have a chance. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. It took about five minutes for it to play out before he fell to his death. I wish I never saw it. Haunts me something fierce. Brings tears to my eyes to even type it out.

[Schmoopie]

Originally Posted by Janice

There are so many awful images of that day, but one just haunts me. This poor soul was trapped above where the planes hit in one of the Towers. He had to get out, so he was literally hanging on the side of the building. He had taken his jacket off and was trying to get to the bottom floors, using a piece of cloth. The poor man didn't know what he was doing, and he didn't have a chance. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. It took about five minutes for it to play out before he fell to his death. I wish I never saw it. Haunts me something fierce. Brings tears to my eyes to even type it out.

Originally Posted by Janice

This doesn't surprise me. I don't have PTSD from 9/11, but I know I'll never be the same again, so I can only imagine how those who were there were affected. That day is just a giant mess in my mind. I can cry on cue, just thinking about it. I do my best not to think about, which I promised I'd never do. Never Forget. I'll just go crazy if I dwell on it.

Hey Janice, I don't mean to be nosy or upset you, but I couldn't help reading your accounts of 9/11. I'm still kind of new here, so please forgive me for sounding naive, but were you at the WTC on 9/11/01?

Andrea

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Schmoopie

Hey Janice, I don't mean to be nosy or upset you, but I couldn't help reading your accounts of 9/11. I'm still kind of new here, so please forgive me for sounding naive, but were you at the WTC on 9/11/01?

Andrea

No Andrea, I wasn't. Just what I saw on tv. To this day, I just can't wrap my mind around it. Seeing all those people run from the white dust, it was like a movie.

I think what happened with me is that I was already in a living hell on 9/11/01. My mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in July, and my father suffered a massive stroke on August 29th. So, when 9/11 happened, it just added to the surreal madness already taking place in my life, if that makes any sense. My parents wasted away together. My father even got cancer in December. They died in March and May of 2002.

[Hollow]

i recall having a few nightmares about it. i was too young for it to affect me in the long run though.