Terrorism And Disaster Mental Health

    
            Understanding the psychosocial consequences of natural disasters is one
            route in coming to grips with the mental health ramifications of terrorism. 
            Using lessons learned from the disaster mental health experience, this 
            presentation will stress how behavioral/mental health issues are integral 
            to preparation, mitigation, and response aspects of all disasters, but 
            especially bioterrorism events. More than any other form of terrorism, 
            biological terrorism will challenge planners, responders, politicians, 
            health care providers and the citizenry in ways it has not been challenged 
            before. Its combination of stealth and destructiveness, its intent to induce 
            dread and confusion, and its capacity to create a very prolonged acute 
            crisis argues that such an event will have a profound impact. Not since the 
            early days of feared nuclear Armageddon has the issue of acute behavioral 
            responses to an event been of such pertinence. Determinants of the potential 
            consequences of a bioterrorist event will be explored with an emphasis on 
            risk perception and risk response as essential to any response effort in 
            this field. Pre and post-event interventions will be introduced and their 
            potential usefulness explored. 


             Objectives 

            The participant will be able to: 

             1. Identify aspects of terrorist events that may lead to the psychological, 
                social, and behavioral Terrorist events, as a group, have greater potential 
                for more severe and longer lasting behavioral/psychosocial sequelae than do 
                natural disasters. 

             2. Explain the rationale for the expectation that, especially in relation to 
                terrorist events, the number of psychological casualties will be many times
                more numerous than physical casualties. 

             3. Understand the role of risk perception, response and communication and
                the media in the behavioral responses to bioterrorism. 

             4. Understand the role of pre and post-event mental health interventions in 
                planning for terrorist events. 

             5. Discuss why planning for the behavioral/psychosocial aftermath of a 
                terrorist incident requires a multidisciplinary effort involving political, 
                medical and mental health leaders, governmental and social institutions and
                the citizenry. 

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