When bad news
cause permanent distress
Humans have a remarkable capacity to adapt to the most diverse situations, events and environments ranging from the tropics and deserts to mountains and arctic regions. Often we handle bad news very well and quickly adapt to new circumstances.
If, however, some news causes us a shock - as it happened for many persons after the latest attacks - this can lead to long lasting distress by emotions like fear, tension, anxiety and preoccupation.
If you lived a shock, this may compromise your quality of life, even if you were not hurt physically and are not directly affected.
Maybe you don't sleep well, start to feel uneasy in public places and avoid large groups of persons. You might also feel tension and anxiety in certain means of public transport.
From the psychological perspective emotional reactions of shock, bewilderment, incredulity (or even trauma) play an important role in overcoming distress situations. Therefore we would like to propose a little test to you!
Think of the moment when you heard about the attacks. Where were you? What was your first thought? Now observe your body. If you feel an emotion of shock or similar, you know that your body registered the event. In this case you should read on...