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Global Traumatic Stress: Hypothetical Events and Possible Solutions

From the Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, goldb002{at}mc.duke.edu

The purpose of this article is to heighten awareness of the potential psychiatric consequences of a global traumatic event such as widespread use of weapons of mass destruction, encounter with an extraterrestrial life form, Earth's collision with an asteroid, paralysis of telecommunication or power systems, or pandemics. Because such events have never occurred, the traumatic affects on the human mind can only be postulated. There is sparse if any literature that addresses this problem. Many of the assumptions of what may happen and possible solutions are within the speculative imagination of the author. It is important that the traumatic stresses of a global event at least be recognized in the medical literature rather than be exclusively the domain of science fiction or cinematography.

Key Words: disaster psychiatry • traumatic stress disorder

This version was published on June 1, 2009

Traumatology, Vol. 15, No. 2, 78-80 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1534765608326748


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