COVID-19 And 9/11: 2 Big Shocking Events With Different Recovery Challenges
Social Isolation Is One Of The Biggest Drawbacks In The Recovery Phase Of The Infection
The coronavirus pandemic that has spread across the world is one of the most significant mass traumas being experienced globally, as thousands of individuals have been directly attacked by the deadly viral disease. This mass incident that has is being suffered by every individual worldwide is drawing parallel attention towards another significant deadly trauma that affected hundreds of lives. The shocking events that occurred on September 1, 2001, also teach us some lessons in this current situation of the world.
Lessons of 9/11 regarding current traumas and challenges
In any shocking event of mass trauma, a state of chronic threat response could be easily generated in the individuals, which is a continuous state of being under hyper-arousal survival mode. After the incident of 9/11, about 20% of the individuals that had firsthand experience of the traumatizing and shocking events reported having PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) several years after the fatal incident.
It has been reported by the healthcare researchers that the mental impact of any trauma could persist for multiple years, even decades after it happened. Even after fifteen years of the shocking events of 9/11, a study was conducted on 36,897 individuals that were in the World Trade Center Health Registry, which concluded that 14.2% of the firefighters and rescue program working for staff along with 15.3% of the community member is still suffering from PTSD and depression.
The influence of a traumatic life event often requires time to heal or getting used to, and most of the time; the required help is not available when needed. More than one-quarter of the individuals that were reportedly diagnosed with depression or PTSD have unmet needs for emotional and mental healthcare in the years after the shocking event.
The time period immediately after experiencing any traumatic event is overwhelming, excruciating, and chaotic for the individual. After suffering from the life-threatening and shocking event, they observed that their own family members and circle of friends are not as sympathetic and compassionate as they had hoped for. After getting exposure to mental or emotional trauma, individuals tend to change and create vagueness in their character that might hinder the gradual process of healing and makes it much more challenging. The after effect of going through a trauma clarifies who believes in you and supports you, but the results might possibly bring additional grief to the individual. If an individual contract COVID-19, the most agonizing task and challenge that he has to suffer from his loneliness.
Difficulty in recovery after two traumatic and shocking events
During both shocking events of 9/11 and the London bombings, the behavior of the people was in the form of health confrontation. But in contrast with those incidents, the coronavirus pandemics is silently using the strategy of divide and conquer while sowing the seeds of helplessness, increasing distrust between people, and escalating the fear factor. Prolonged isolation could be dangerous with the same intensity as the coronavirus infection itself for the people.
Post-traumatic stress disorder has a lasting impact due to the current shocking events of the coronavirus pandemic situation, just like it happened at the time of the 9/11 attack. While individuals across the world were not much afraid as they could not catch the shocking events of September 11, 2001, mankind has become afraid of acquiring the virus as the viral coronavirus infection has proved to be quite contagious. The adverse reactions of people for this illness include social rejections and personal blaming to a level of acquiring life-threatening conditions such as AIDS or HIV. To counter this issue, people should be conscious of other people’s feelings and emotions, and even if they have acquired the viral infection, we should not let them grow apart and increase the social isolation of the individual to avoid mental trauma to the infected person while he is already dealing with physiological issues.
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