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American Morning

Terror-Related Stress Still Affecting Many Americans

Aired June 12, 2002 - 09:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We have a sad postscript to the September 11th attacks this morning. "The New York Post" reports that a New York paramedic who spent months at ground zero pulling out body parts was so despondent that he took his own life, leaving behind what was described as a harrowing suicide note. While this case is obviously extreme, terror-related stress is still affecting many Americans. A new survey out says four out of 10 fear another terrorist attack. Joining us to answer those concerns, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and psychiatrist Alan Manevitz, and you can still phone us with your questions at 866-853-1100.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Welcome back, Sanjay. Good to see you for the first time this morning.

I want to go straight to the phone calls right now. We have Francis on the line. Francis, good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

ZAHN: Fire away with your question. You have two very smart doctors in house today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I work for a major airline, and I would like to know how can we as persons (ph) and flight attendants cope with the feeling of abandonment and uninformant (ph) of the risks that were known before 9/11 and known now? The pilots were told, but we weren't, and how do we cope with the guilt of returning day to day home to our families, and the incredible stress that it puts on our family members? My company no longer wants to pay medical benefits for those over 300 flight attendant still out on fear of flying leave.

ZAHN: Francis I think had a question in there, as we'll as I think a comment we've heard from a lot of her colleagues along the way. These are the one, folks, got to get in the airplanes every day, and aren't necessarily sure who is on board that day.

DR. ALAN MANEVITZ, N.Y. PRESBYTERIAN WEIL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER: Obviously, for the family members of anybody who is a pilot or flight attendant, there's the association and the worry every day, as they go off to work, similar to the way policemen's families and firefighter's families -- this is a new risk factor for the people in that industry, and as opposed to policemen and firemen, who as part of their training and expectations, in this job, that they have that, this is a new -- just a new experience for the families and the people who are already in this job.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think an important thing to point out, we've talked about this before, is that it's still a question of outcomes and possibilities. You know, there were disasters that happened before. Certainly these created disasters are much me scary, but the likelihood of something happening to any given individual is still extremely small. I think that's important to remember when it comes to dirty, when it comes to anthrax, when it comes to this.

ZAHN: That's hard to keep in perspective when you hear warning after on a daily basis.

GUPTA: Absolutely.

ZAHN: She writes, "I was in New York on September 11th, and was witness to an even I can't express in words. I still can not talk about that day. I want to know how I can gradually begin to talk about it."

Doctor?

GUPTA: Talking about it I think is an extremely important part of it, actually getting those thoughts out there. A lot of people are internalizing these thoughts, internalizing these fears that concerns not talking about it with friends, and I think that's probably not the answer. If it's getting particularly bad, if it's affecting sleep, if its affecting mood, if it's affecting eating, there may be other ways to get help as well. Seeing someone like you, Dr. Manovitz, or another psychologist, or who somebody who either give -- talk therapy, or even medication, as the case may arise.

ZAHN: We have got Michael on the phone now from Connecticut.

MANEVITZ: There are many different treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder. The key thing is that somebody shouldn't isolate themselves. They really do need to speak with their friends, their family doctor, their clergy, and, as the doctor said, to seek out professional help if interfering with their daily lives.

ZAHN: Michael, you still standing by.

Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. I'm a tower one survivor, and I felt quite a bit of stress. I've also been asked by my 6-year-old son to explain what he has seen on television. Any suggestions.

ZAHN: You weren't able to hear this, but this is a tower one survivor, who has to wrestle with his own set of traumas, and a 6- year-old son asking him to explain the television images that are seared into all of our memories. Take a crack at that doctor.

GUPTA: I don't think anything can say this is an easy task. There is no question, I don't think there's any easy answers to this. One of the things is that I think kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They ask good questions, and they deserve good answers as a result of that. And if they're asking the questions, it may seem like a completely inopportune time that they suddenly asked about something, but it's a time that they came to them. It's a time for them to talk about it, and it's probably time for whoever they're asking the question of, a parent or someone else, a teacher, to go ahead and make that time to answer the question.

Dr. Manovtiz, this e-mail if for you. It comes from Maria, and she writes, "Since the attacks, my 12-year-old son has had recurring dreams about falling buildings. These are dreams, not nightmares, and he is calm when he tells me about them" How concerned should I be about this?

MANEVITZ: That's a normal reaction, especially for children who are trying to process a lot of images and a lot of information, and the fact that it doesn't interfere with the school performance, that he doesn't consider them nightmares, that he's able to talk about it in a calm way, this is an ordinary way of processing the information.

ZAHN: So this child is dealing with it.

MANEVITZ: The child is dealing with it. The parents are dealing with it by listening calmly. And using it as perhaps a starting point for a discussion of other feelings that the child may have. And what you want to watch for in children in general is regressions in behavior when they're very young, interference with play abilities, irritability, school performance, sleep difficulties.

So the fact that somebody dreams really for children and adults is part of the normal processing.

ZAHN: And then as we all know, people are slowly getting back to more regular sleep patterns, which were very disrupted by all of that.

Just a 10-second piece of advice for people who are having trouble sleeping.

MANEVITZ: Yes, I mean, one thing is that people are getting better. They are -- the depression has gone down. The post-traumatic stress is going down. Talking about, I think is probably the best treatment. If it is interfering with life, go ahead and seek medical treatment. There are some good therapies out there.

ZAHN: Dr. Alan Manevitz, thank you for your time. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you for coming to New York for a change.

GUPTA: Great to be here.

ZAHN: Great to see you in person.

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