Rational And Irrational Fears

Terrorism is a form of trauma, and trauma has the ability to make an impact on people for their entire lives. In the article “ Rational and Irrational Fears Combine Terrorism’s Wake” , Dr. Gilbert made a prediction that “New Yorkers”, as well as Americans will lose their fear and be back to normal after September 11, 2001. “New Yorkers” and the rest of American will never be normal again. Fear that occurs from such a state of panic and distress is kindled inside a person’s soul like a candle that never burns out. It will forever be there. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, there will forever be a burden carried on the shoulders of all Americans. Goode stated “The familiar became strange, the ordinary perilous” (Goode 1). After a shocking event like September 11, the paranoia level increased

In order to conceal their fears, many people try to take unnecessary precautions as a buffer from reality. As stated in the text “Jittery, uncertain, and assuming the worst, many people have answered these questions by forswearing air travel, purchasing gas masks and radiation detectors…” (Goode 1). To this day, many people refuse to get on a plane because they are scared of an unlikely event to occur. Even though security has been massively improved since the events that took place on September 11, the image of the trauma that took place will be forever engraved in the memories of America. The only way fears can be conquered is “straightforward information from trustworthy sources” (Goode 4). The problem with the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11 is that there are so many unknown details and little facts to support the events. The unknown details promote fear with little security. This is what creates fear that spreads like a wildfire. “New Yorkers” and other Americans will always have a fear that burns strongly inside of them and will never cease to