Oklahoma City Bombing

Oklahoma City's broken heart eventually will mend, mental health consultants say.

The individual emotional scars of most people affected by the disaster at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building will heal as well. But it will take time - from six to 18 months, experts say.

For a few people, however, the emotional aftershocks of the deadly bombing could linger for years or even a lifetime.

At least two out-of-state teams experienced in dealing with disasters and post-traumatic stress met last week with officials at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The purpose of the teams' visit was to help the state and local agencies develop long-term strategies to help the Oklahoma City community heal, said Rand Baker, the department's chief of staff.

One team was from the National Center of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders in Palo Alto, Calif.; the other was the Pittsburgh Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team.

The latter group was established eight months ago after a USAir jetliner on Sept. 8 nosedived into a ravine just outside of Pittsburgh, killing all 132 passengers aboard.

Both teams of consultants said it may take from six to 18 months for the entire community to recover emotionally from the disaster, and some people may require even longer.

"It is very common and quite normal for people to experience emotional aftershocks when they have passed through a horrible event," said social worker Dan Ziff, a member of the Pittsburgh team.

A traumatic event causes people to experience unusually strong emotional reactions that have the potential to affect their ability to function at the workplace, within their families or in other areas of their lives, he said.

With understanding and the support of loved ones, a person's stress reactions usually pass quickly. But sometimes the traumatic event is so painful that professional assistance from a counselor may be necessary, Ziff said.

This eventuality does not mean the person is crazy or weak, he said. It simply indicates that the particular event was just too powerful for the person to manage alone.

"Even though the event may be over, people now may be experiencing some strong emotional or physical reactions - or these stress reactions may set in later," Ziff said.

Most victims don't want to talk about their traumatic experience right away, said Dr. Ken Thompson, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh.

"There's a natural numbing process and to ask some people to disclose their stories before they're ready is almost cruel," he said. "Each person has their own natural process."

Some people will get better faster than others, Thompson noted. "It's important that the people who need to recover more slowly are not made to feel that there's something wrong with them," he said.

Most people and communities touched by a disaster "yearn for things to go back to the way they were before the event," said Fred Gusman, director of the Palo Alto center.

"But things won't ever be the same in Oklahoma City," he added. "Even once the Murrah building comes down, the site still will bring back sad memories for a lot of people who work in the area, for those who pass by there or for whose friends and relatives were affected there.

"And all of these feelings and memories are understandable and normal," Gusman said.

One classic reaction to tragedy is anger, he said.

"People begin to realize how vulnerable we all are," Gusman said. "Sometimes it can be difficult to decide whether a person is angry or afraid."

Bruce Hiley-Young, disaster outreach coordinator with the Palo Alto center, said the efforts of local news media along with mental health professionals throughout the area will be needed to help Oklahoma City residents recover.

Just about every community disaster is marked by a natural progression of phases or stages, he said.

Once a traumatic event occurs, the predisaster stage is quickly replaced by the heroic phase, when people and property are rescued or bodies are recovered. The heroic stage is also accompanied by the "honeymoon" stage, when the community rallies around the rescuers, providing all sorts of support, Hiley-Young said.

Toward the end of this honeymoon period, victims' families, agencies and others begin to criticize, point fingers or complain about various shortcomings or problems associated with the handling of the disaster or its investigation, he said.

This stage often can bottom out with widespread community disillusionment and anger over the disaster. But after this disillusionment and anger period, many people across the community will begin to climb toward recovery, Hiley-Young said.

But the post-disaster recovery stage will never be able to recreate or duplicate the community's predisaster mood, he said.

Whether Oklahoma City posts a recovery that makes the community stronger or weaker than it was before the blast depends a lot upon how various agencies, institutions, social organizations, civic leaders and citizens deal with the disaster at the Murrah building, its aftermath and each other, he said.

"Disaster can really fray or strain the fabric of a community," Hiley-Young said.

"But the closeness that can develop in a community as a result of a disaster can be used in a variety of positive ways, including the healing of old social wounds."

COPING

Here is what you can do to deal with emotional aftershocks:

• Do strenuous physical exercise.
• Structure your time - keep busy.
• You're normal and having normal reactions. Don't label yourself crazy.
• Talk to people. Talk is the most healing medicine.
• Be aware of numbing the pain with overuse of drugs or alcohol. You don't need to complicate this with a substance abuse problem.
• Reach out - people do care.
• Maintain as normal a schedule as possible.
• Spend time with others.
• Help your co-workers as much as possible by sharing feelings and checking out how they're doing.
• Give yourself permission to feel rotten and share your feelings with others.
• Keep a journal, write your way through those sleepless hours.
• Do things that feel good to you.
• Realize that those around you are under stress.
• Don't make any big life changes.
• Do make as many daily decisions as possible which will give you a feeling of control over your life. Example: If someone asks you what you want to eat - answer them even if you're not sure.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Recurring thoughts, dreams or flashbacks are normal - don't try to fight them - they'll decrease over time and become less painful.
• Eat well-balanced and regular meals (even if you don't feel like it).