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ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER

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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future

MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT
February 28, 2003

"The best mirror is a friend's eye."
- Gaelic Proverb

Short Subjects

LINKS

Mental Health Moment Online

CISM/CISD Annotated Links

Gulf War Syndrome

WILDLAND FIRE INFORMATION

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:

Rocky Mountain Region

Disaster Mental Health Institute -

SPRING WORKSHOP SERIES

March 22 - Religious Aspects of

Domestic Violence

- Pat Bradley, MA, NACC, LAT

April 23, 24, 25 -

Crisis Counseling, Trauma, and Response:

A Multi-level Approach

- Marguerite McCormack, MA, LPC

May 3 - Suicide Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction:
Tactics For The Trenches

- Jon Richard, PsyD

NIMH Meeting Announcements

The Australasian Critical Incident

Stress Association Conference

The Right Response in the

21st Century

Location: Carlton Crest Hotel

Melbourne Australia

Friday October 3, 2003 thru

Sunday October 5, 2003

For further information

please contact the conference organisers:

ammp@optushome.com.au

Conference Website:

http://www.acisa.org.au/
conference2003/

Third Biennial International Conference

on Intercultural Research (IAIR)

May 16 - 19, 2003

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Contact: 2003 IAIR International Conference

C/o College of Education

NTNU, PO Box 7-763

Taipei, Taiwan 106

Tel: +(886)2-2321-3142

Fax +(886)2-2394-9243

Email: t14004@cc.ntnu.edu.tw

VIII European Conference

on Traumatic Stress(ECOTS)

May 22 - 25 2003

Location: Berlin, GERMANY

Contact: Scientific Secretariat

VIII ECOTS Berlin 2003

c/o Catholic University of

Applied Social Sciences

Koepenicker Allee 39-57

D-10318 Berlin

Tel: +49-30-50 10 10 54

Fax: +49-30-50 10 10 88

E-mail: trauma-conference@kfb-berlin.de

Annual Conference Society for

Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP)

April 12 - 14, 2003

Location: Orlando, Florida

USA

Contact: lhakel@siop.bgsu.edu

4th International Symposium on Bilingualism

April 30 - May 3, 2003

Location: Tempe, Arizona, USA

Contact:

4th International Symposium on Bilingualism

Arizona State University

PO Box 870211

Tempe, AZ 85287-0211, USA

Email: isb4@asu.edu

RESEARCH: REVENGE MOTIVATES TRIBAL WARFARE

Revenge is probably the single most common motive mentioned by tribal
warriors when asked why they go to war, according to a Penn State
anthropologist. "When we come to blood revenge among human beings, it
is helpful to remember that we seem to be dealing with something that
is not so different from behaviors we already see in primates,"
Stephen Beckerman, associate professor of anthropology, told
attendees last week at the annual meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science in Denver. "Revenge is a desire to not
just punish the culprit, but to change his mind, to make him see, if
only in his death throws, that he was wrong." This idea of revenge
colors the methods and approaches of tribal warfare. Beckerman notes,
however, that currently we do not operate on the tribal level and
that a watershed in human history occurred when the decision to go to
war was no longer made by those who fight the wars. For the full
story by A'ndrea Elyse Messer, visit
http://www.psu.edu/ur/2003/tribalwarfare.html

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Common Diagnosis?

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence. For full article, go to: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/448491
Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health 8(1) 2003

TRAINING OPPORTUNITY

The Disaster Mental Health Institute (University of South Dakota) has announced a Summer Intensive
Program for 2003. It is intended to make it easier for mental health
professionals to complete the Graduate Certificate in Disaster Mental
Health.

The web site for the program is http://www.usd.edu/dmhi/sip. Each year
the Summer Intensive Program will offer the three required courses for the
Graduate Certificate (Disaster Mental Health, Serving the Diverse Community
in Disaster, and Crisis Intervention) and one or two of the courses which
can be used as the fourth elective course. In 2003 the two elective courses
to be offered are Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Management in Disaster
Mental Health.

Classes will meet "in person" June 10 to July 2, 2003, and will also
require a combination of assigned readings, internet-based distance
learning, and papers May 12 to August 1, 2003.

Courses are scheduled so that the certificate can also be completed in
two consecutive years, spending only 10 days on the USD campus each year.
Those choosing this option would take Disaster Mental Health and Serving the
Diverse Community in Disaster the first year, then complete Crisis
Intervention and an elective course, as well as the capstone exercise the
second year.

In Summer 2003, all Summer Intensive Program classes will meet on the
USD Vermillion campus in the South Dakota Union building. Disaster Mental
Health (PSYC656) will meet June 10-14 and 16-19. Serving the Diverse
Community (PSYC658) will meet June 11-14 and 16-20. Crisis Intervention
(PSYC655) will meet June 23-28 and June 30-July 1. Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder (PSYC657) and Management in Disaster Mental Health (PSYC755) will
meet June 23-28 and June 30-July 2. The Graduate Certificate Capstone
Exercise will take place the afternoon of July 2.
We hope you can join us.

Disaster Mental Health Institute
University of South Dakota - SDU 114
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069-2390
Phone: 605-677-6575 or 800-522-9684
Fax: 605-677-6604
http://www.usd.edu/dmhi/

Opportunity for Citizen Support For America's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Through The Citizen Corps Initiative

WASHINGTON, D.C.� The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) announce to the nation's fire and emergency medical services leadership and members, meaningful ways to seek and accept citizen support through the Citizen Corps initiative. For the full story, go to: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/dhtml/media/03-044.cfm

Afghanistan: UN aid operations in north suspended due to insecurity

27 February - United Nations aid operations in northern Afghanistan have been suspended because of factional skirmishes in the area, a spokesman for the UN mission in that country said today.For full Story, go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=6282&Cr=afghan&Cr1=

Security must be guided by respect for civil liberties, UN human rights chief says

25 February � The top United Nations human rights official today stressed that even in times of grave uncertainty - when there was a sense that "no one is safe" - a comprehensive strategy for security can and must be guided by the rule of law and respect for human rights. For the full story, go to: http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=6267&Cr=human&Cr1=rights

Attention on Iraq could overshadow Afghan refugee needs, UN official warns

25 February � The world's preoccupation with Iraq could take much-needed attention away from Afghanistan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, warned today, urging the international community to continue helping Afghans to return to their shattered country. For the full story, go to: http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=6259&Cr=afghan&Cr1=

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION TERRORISM

There has been a rapid increase in crisis phenomena around the world, including a
deteriorating ecological situation, mounting demographic problems and a proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their associated delivery systems
pose a major threat to US national security. The Department of Defense has been pursuing a number of
activities to counter paramilitary and terrorist threats from nuclear, biological, and chemical
(NBC) agents. These efforts include supporting, training, and equipping the US Army Reserves
(USAR) for the medical management of physical injuries and psychological trauma resulting from
the use of NBC weapons both in the US and overseas. The USAR
has been training to perform its mission in an NBC-contaminated environment by engaging in realistic
WMD exercises using state-of-the-art protective equipment and medical support. Realistic training
builds confidence in medical defenses and in NBC protective equipment. This translates into
accomplishing the mission while minimizing the psychological and physical casualties in an
NBC-contaminated battlefield or in support of a WMD terrorist incident (Knudson, 2001).

Lord (2001) highlights US civilians' vulnerability to terrorist uses
of biological and chemical agents and other weapons of mass destruction. He also
discusses possible psychological consequences of these terrorist acts, which must be met with
deliberate planning, public education, and regularly scheduled training exercises focusing on
medical and psychological management of casualties. He describes three exercises: the "Radex
North" exercises in Minnesota, which evaluated community, state, and federal readiness for a
radiological release incident; the 'Catastrophic Exercise 1999," or "Catex '99," which focused
on a nerve agent release in the skyway system of Minneapolis and a similar release in a St. Paul
courthouse; and finally, the "Joint Regional Exercise 2000," or "J-REX 2000," which evaluated
how a community and state would respond to an unannounced event involving botulinum toxin.

Psychological Issues

DiGiovanni (2001) discusses some pertinent psychological issues in the
immediate management of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) event. Decisions made and actions
taken by crisis and consequence managers during the initial stages of a domestic terrorist
incident that involves a WMD will influence the ultimate psychological toll of the disaster.
Exploring, in advance, the feasibility of quarantine, participating in training exercises that
force decision makers to confront the consequences of their decisions on the behaviors of a
population at risk from a WMD agent release, and critically examining the capabilities of mental
health crisis intervention teams that might respond to a terrorist event are some of the
suggestions offered to crisis and consequence managers to help them prepare for their roles.
Other suggestions deal with the media, public education, first responder and staff education and
training, use of personnel, communications security, processing the dead, maintenance of records,
debriefings, and military medical readiness. Romano and King (2002) discuss the psychological
factors in chemical warfare and terrorism. They state that knowledge of the behavioral effects
of the chemical warfare agents and of their medical countermeasures is imperative to ensure that
military and civilian medical and mental health organizations can deal with possible incidents
involving weapons of mass destruction.

As the importance of psychosocial issues in domestic
preparedness has come to be better understood, it is becoming evident that there are significant
conceptual limitations in existing approaches to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) consequence
management. Becker (2001) identifies 6 problems: (1) Most understandings of consequence management
focus on short-term issues with longer-term recovery issues receiving far less attention;
(2) while psychological issues are beginning to be introduced, social issues generally are not
addressed; (3) although more attention is being paid to mental health issues, scenarios that are
predominantly psychosocial in their effects are not generally considered; (4) social and
behavioral science insights are not adequately incorporated; (5) despite the further inclusion
of psychological issues, the overall approach is not sufficiently integrated or interdisciplinary;
and (6) although psychological issues are receiving more attention, fundamental macro-level
issues such as the re-establishment of trust after a WMD terrorist incident rarely receive
significant attention. These limitations could seriously weaken efforts to address the
consequences of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear terrorist attack.

Britton (2001) examines
weapons of mass destruction from a psychological perspective. He considers psychological dynamics
common to many people, focusing on two questions: Why was the buildup of nuclear weapons so
massive in the Cold War that they became central to that era? What can we expect in the future?
To answer these questions, he uses concepts from clinical psychology, a field that has had to
confront violence and the triumph of rage and hate over empathy, concern, and love for self and
others. In asking how the US, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union came to make nuclear weapons
a central feature of their relations with one another, Britton looks at three principles:
(1) understanding behavior in a social system requires looking at the system as a whole;
(2) behavior is not driven by reality, but by our interpretations of reality; and (3) violence
reinforces the belief that the world belongs to the strong. J. L. Herman's (1992) model of
recovery from trauma suggests a set of indicants of change from an underlying belief in the
world as dangerous to an underlying belief in safety.

Romano and King (2001) report on the proceedings of a symposium addressing the complications
encountered by medical planners when confronted by the use or threat of the use of weapons of
mass destruction. The types of chemical warfare agents (CWA), their principal target organs, and
physiological effects are discussed. Reviewed here are the uses of CWA in 20th century warfare
and terrorism, with emphasis on 5 cases: (1) use of sulfur mustard during World War I; (2) use
by Italy against Ethiopia; (3) use in the Sino-Japanese War; (4) relatively well-studied use in
the Iran-Iraq conflict; and (5) the use of sarin in the Tokyo subway terrorist incident.
Symposium contributors reviewed the additional physiological and psychological consequences of
their use and threat of use. Results from training and simulation are discussed. Conclusions are
presented derived from the analysis of these historical situations (Romano and King, 2001).

Lifton (1997) discusses the basic premises underlying the psychohistorical
study of the Aum Shinrikyo cult. As the new millennium approached,
large bellicose authoritarian states lessened in number. However, the recent totalitarian regimes
and wars had recharged fascination with replicating the glories and traumas of living and dying
in calamitous times. Countless private groups now trained to fight the presumed cosmic threats.
Spawned by the engrossment with turmoil, Aum Shinrikyo crossed the border for non-governmental
organizations by itself developing weapons of mass destruction. They would be proactive in the
climactic unfolding: choosing to bring on the seemingly inevitable calamity, inflicting it on
"Others" rather than being mortified by passively suffering under the "Other's" whip hand. Aum
Shinrikyo members resembled other cultic disciples questing after the apocalypse, but Aum
Shinrikyo actually attempted empowering itself to arrange a universal destruction. Thus Aum
Shinrikyo heralded a new terror for humankind. Aum Shinrikyo's "forcing the apocalypse" is the
focus of Lifton's study. Rosenman (2002) discusses Lifton's article, characteristics of Aum
Shinrikyo, shortcomings in Lifton's framework, and brief examples of an alternative approach.

Some Conclusions

Ethical sensitivity is diminishing due to use of weapons of mass
destruction. Coincidently, knowledge about psychology has led to new thinking on personal and
community responsibility. In this context, the evolution of moral consciousness can be traced in
relationship to the individual scientist and to the international community. If good is defined
as the well-being of the community, then the unanswered question of the moment is whether it is
most helped or hindered by modern scientific development. That science does have a direct
influence on the development of ethics in relation to terrorism is a question of importance.

Medd and Goldstein (2001) review the international terrorist activities of the last half
century of the last millennium and make a case for needed changes in US efforts to curb the
growth of terrorism. Measures for averting international terrorism disasters before they occur
are discussed. They contend that with the growing availability of weapons of mass destruction
and computer technology to terrorist and organized crime groups, there is a growing potential
for disasters of proportions never before experienced. The risks are becoming too great to
continue with a reactive approach to terrorism. How the basis for international terrorism has
changed since its modern form began in the 1960s is examined. The evolutionary trends of
terrorism to make projections for what we can expect in the future is extrapolated. Ideas for
preventing terrorist actions before they occur are presented, beginning with an argument for
redefining terrorism in terms that enable us to organize more effectively against it.

Nevin (1992) discusses the writings of Skinner as they relate to the literature
of survival and well-being, which address the problems of the future. The peace movement, the
green movement, and the deep ecology movement point to what science and technology say about the
future and appeal to autonomous people to change their views to prevent calamity. Skinner's
views are seen as being able to emphasize the increasingly aversive conditions under which
humankind lives and target the culprits, industries that seek short-term profits at the cost of
long-term general well-being, religions that encourage overpopulation, governments that build
weapons of mass destruction, and ultimately people as avid consumers and complacent citizens.
Skinner's views are presented as holistic, ecological visions of interaction between organism
and environment.

The general public, the mass media, and many government officials
believe that the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will inevitably lead to mass panic
and/or mass hysteria. However, studies of disasters and wars show that disorganized flight in
the presence of a real or perceived danger (i.e., mass panic) is rare. On the other hand, in a
real or perceived WMD scenario, outbreaks of multiple unexplained symptoms (i.e., mass
psychogenic illness, mass sociogenic illness, mass hysteria, or epidemic hysteria) may be
prevalent. Many of the symptoms (fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness or
lightheadedness, and anorexia) are common in combat and after toxic chemical exposure, chemical
weapon exposure, prodromal infectious illness, and acute radiation sickness (Pastel, 2001).

A significant aspect of this situation is looking at and analyzing crises
from a cross-cultural viewpoint.
Rubel (2000) asks some critical and relevant major
questions: (1) What is the nature and structure of the global crisis and what are
the possibilities for its resolution? (2) What is the mechanism of transition from transformation
of individual consciousness to mass (collective) consciousness transformation? (3) What practical
tools can be employed for transformation of mass consciousness? One of Rubel's most important
findings is his heuristic transpersonal model of the global crisis,
advanced in the framework of a new holistic paradigm in science. Instead of the traditional
contradiction (' or'), it proposes unity ('and') of potential outcomes, according to the
principle of holographic image superposition. Accepted as a working model, such an approach opens
opportunities for direct efforts toward attunement of mass consciousness to and synchronization
of our actions with positive outcome, which is dialectically assumed to be already existent. For
this purpose, Rubel's study has developed the concept of archetypal modalities that emphasizes
the dynamic nature of these structures and the process of synchronization. Another finding was a
heuristic model of the universal structure of the mass consciousness transformation
process. It draws an analogy between the most vivid transformative process in the physical
world-that of the chain reaction in nuclear fission-and a process of mass consciousness
transformation. The above heuristic models have provided a theoretical background for development
of technologies for transformation of mass consciousness on the basis of synthesis of various
paths toward transformation of individual consciousness and their respective archetypal
modalities. This study also addresses the feasibility of and selected tools for practical
implementation of these technologies and emphasizes the importance of re-introduction of rituals
for a resolution of the global crisis.

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REFERENCES

Becker, Steven M. (Dec 2001). Meeting the threat of weapons of mass destruction terrorism: Toward a broader conception of consequence management. Military Medicine, Vol 166(12,Suppl 2),pp. 13-16.

Britton, Michael (2001). Weapons of mass destruction. In: Christie, Daniel J. (Ed); Wagner, Richard V. (Ed); Peace, conflict, and violence: Peace psychology for the 21st century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 87-97.

DiGiovanni, Clete (Dec 2001). Pertinent psychological issues in the immediate management of a weapons of mass destruction event. Military Medicine, Vol 166(12, Suppl 2). pp. 59-60.

Herman, Judith L. (Jul 1992). Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol 5(3), pp. 377-391.

Knudson, Gregory B. (Dec 2001). Nuclear, biological, and chemical training in the U.S. Army Reserves: Mitigating psychological consequences of weapons of mass destruction. Military Medicine, Vol 166(12,Suppl 2), pp. 63-65.

Lifton, Robert Jay (1997). Beyond Armageddon: New patterns of ultimate violence. Modern Psychoanalysis, Vol 22(1), pp. 17-29.

Lonsdale, Kathleen (1962). Science and ethics. ; Nature, London, 193, pp. 209-214.

Lord, Edward J. (Dec 2001). Exercises involving an act of biological or chemical terrorism: What are the psychological consequences? Military Medicine, Vol 166(12,Suppl 2), pp. 34-35.

Medd, Roger; Goldstein, Frank (Jul-Sep 1997). International terrorism on the eve of a new millennium. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Vol 20(3), pp. 281-316.

Nevin, John A. (Spr-Sum 1992). B. F. Skinner: On behalf of the future. Behavior & Social Issues, Vol 2(1), pp. 83-88.

Pastel, Ross H. (Dec 2001). Collective behaviors: Mass panic and outbreaks of multiple unexplained symptoms. Military Medicine, Vol 166(12,Suppl 2), pp. 44-46.

Romano, James A. JR; King, James M. (Apr 2002). Chemical warfare and chemical terrorism: Psychological and performance outcomes. Military Psychology, Vol 14(2), Special Issue: Chemical warfare and chemical terrorism: Psychological and performance outcomes. pp. 85-92.

Romano, James A. JR; King, James M. (Dec 2001). Psychological casualties resulting from chemical and biological weapons. Military Medicine, Vol 166(12,Suppl 2), pp. 21-22.

Rosenman, Stanley (Spr 2002). Contemplating evil: The Aum Shinrikyo cult. Journal of Psychohistory, Vol 29(4), pp. 383-406.

Rubel, Viktor (Mar 2000). Some aspects of the world's global crisis and transformation of mass consciousness. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol 60(8-A), pp. 3162.

To search for books on disasters and disaster mental

health topics, leaders, leadership, organizations,

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weapons of mass destruction, and related

topics and purchase them online, go to the following url:

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER

MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT February 28, 2003

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION TERRORISM

First Responders Guide to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): Practical Techniques and Procedures for Responding to a Terrorist Incident Involving WMD