Psychologists who specialize in victims of disasters say WTC work was particularly emotional

Skriptchenko and Azarian interviewed some 400 people, including survivors, witnesses, rescuers and friends, over 11 days. "We thought we were very experienced people but … we were deeply affected," says Skriptchenko.

by Kristen Cole

Visiting professors and husband-and-wife research team Vitali Skriptchenko and Anahit Azarian have interviewed victims of manmade and environmental disasters around the world, but nothing prepared them for this.

The couple, who are affiliated with Brown’s Center for the Study of Human Development, spent 11 days in New York City interviewing victims of the World Trade Center attack. They recently talked about their psychological observations as part of the center’s colloquium series.

“This is not the usual scientific presentation with statistical data and theoretical explanations,” said Skriptchenko. “This was very emotional for us. We thought we were very experienced people but … we were deeply affected.

“If you see me getting emotional, don’t be surprised.”

Skriptchenko and Azarian interviewed some 400 people – including survivors, witnesses, rescuers and friends – at the Family Assistance Center and at a Battery Park school where students saw people jumping from the World Trade Center before the buildings collapsed into a cloud of smoke and dust.

The massive human trauma resulted in total disruption of life, said Skriptchenko. Not only were lives lost, but many people could not return to any sense of normalcy because of the loss of apartments and jobs.

The Family Assistance Center was the central location of victims’ resources ranging from the U.S. Attorneys Office to the Department of Labor and Workmen’s Compensation, the Department of Justice and the Department of Mental Health. Interpreters were available to translate, and telephone and Internet service were offered free.

The walls of the center were lined with posters of the missing. “Grieving, which is usually an intimate affair in America, was carried out to the streets,” said Skriptchenko.

Confusion, disbelief, sadness, fear, helplessness and anxiety were among the common reactions they witnessed. Striking to Skriptchenko and Azarian were the “thank yous” they received from victims after talking with them about their feelings.

Among the people with whom they spoke was a man who had asked his brother to fill in for him at a restaurant in the World Trade Center on the day of the attack and wondered how he could live with himself now. He could not work Sept. 11 because he had injured his foot playing football a few days before.

Another young woman thought her husband died because he was trying to get in touch with her before leaving the tower. He called twice while she was in the shower, she told Skriptchenko.

Others attempted to find meaning in the event. “My Dad is a real hero!” read one poster.

Another young woman found comfort in stories about her father from his colleagues who were able to get out. Her father, they said, had stayed to help someone who was in a wheelchair. It made sense to her, said Skriptchenko, because her father had cared for her mother when her mother was confined to a wheelchair.

False hope also abounded. One woman described how she was at the Family Assistance Center all day and when she returned home, she discovered that her husband’s slippers near the bed had changed position. That, she said, meant he was still alive.

Other victims characterized the attack in fatalistic terms. But there was a notable and surprising absence of anger – considered to be a natural emotion within the grieving process – among victims, said Skriptchenko.

The single exception was a man angry because there was a picture of his son jumping from a tower posted on the Internet. “Who gave them permission, he wanted to know,” said Skriptchenko.

While Skriptchenko interviewed adults, Azarian focused on children.

Any therapeutic tool, such as using art to express emotion, did not work with young victims of the World Trade Center attack, she said. Further, Azarian said, she was swept up with emotion along with the victims.

Although she and her husband have interviewed child victims before, and published several articles about post-traumatic stress disorder in children, this was different. She could not stop herself from crying, said Azarian.

One boy carried a photograph of his father everywhere with him. When he ate, the photo was with him at the table; when he slept, he brought it into bed.

“On the last day, he gave his father’s picture to me,” said Azarian. “Some day I hope to go back and give the picture back.”