Manhattan Residents Still Suffer From PTSD

Pos traumatic stress disorder cases are many in New York City. One out of eight people living close to World Trade Center attack suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder 3 years after September 11 traumatic events.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental condition leading to anxiety, sleep disorder, lack of concentration, anger, flashbacks and nightmares.

New York City health department examined the data from a survey conducted between 2003 and 2004. The survey questioned 11,000 lower Manhattan residents trying to estimate their mental health condition and the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study showed that 12.6% of all survey participants suffer from stress even two or three years after traumatic events. Those from low income families, women, divorced people, and who were close when the buildings fell, were more likely to have long-term mental health problems.

One out of five African Americans reported stress signs, compared with one out of four Hispanics and 10.7% white people, 15% women suffered, compared with 10% men. About 20% of those from low-income families suffered from PTSD.

The most, who suffered from mental stress, were those residents who were injured during the events. That is about 38% of them. Other two groups reported the highest rates (17% each) of mental health problems: those who saw deaths of injured people and those who appeared in clouds of smoke and dust.

Previous studies have shown that post-traumatic stress disorder affected about 8% of Manhattan residents from 5 to 8 weeks after the September 11 events, the rate dropped to 2% after 4 months and to 1% after 6%. This study means that people leaving closer to the buildings suffered more mental stress than those living in other parts of Manhattan. The study suggests that this is probably because people living close to World Trade Center are being regularly reminded of the traumatic events, thus they need serious mental care.

New York City health department is also planning to analyze data from another similar survey conducted in 2007 to see how mental health condition of Manhattan residents is 6 years after the events.

This and the coming study are the first ones looking at long-term effects of September 11 traumatic events on mental health state of residents. The study urges the need of detailed mental health care for US residents, especially the ones who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder the most.