Viewpoint: Terrorism and dispelling the myth of a panic prone public

Journal of Public Health Policy

Volumn 27, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 219-245

  Sheppard, Ben ^a   Rubin, G James ^b   Wardman, Jamie K ^b   Wessely, Simon ^b  

^a KING'S COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b NONE

Author keywords

Biological warfare; Chemical warfare; Panic; Terrorism

Indexed keywords

AMOXICILLIN; CIPROFLOXACIN; DOXYCYCLINE; SARIN;

ANTHRAX; BIOLOGICAL WARFARE; CHEMICAL WARFARE; HUMAN; LITERATURE; PANIC; REVIEW; SOCIOLOGY; TERRORISM; UNITED KINGDOM; WAR; ARTICLE; FEAR; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; PUBLIC OPINION; UNITED STATES;

FEAR; HUMANS; PUBLIC OPINION; TERRORISM; TRUTH DISCLOSURE; UNITED STATES;

EID: 33748763860     PISSN: 01975897     EISSN: 1745655X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3200083     Document Type: Review

References (66)

1. Oliver M, Strucke J. Panic as London is hit again. Guardian. 2005; July 21.
2. Anonymous. Eyewitnesses tell of panic and confusion. Daily Mail. 2005; July 21.
3. Bonneux L, Van Damme W. An iatrogenic pandemic of panic. BMJ. 2006;332:786-7.
4. Karwa M, Currie B, Kvetan V. Bioterrorism: preparing for the impossible or the improbable. Crit Care Med. 2005;33:S75-95.
5. Drury J. No need to panic. The Psychologist. 2004;17:118-9.
6. Mawson AR. Understanding mass panic and other collective responses to threat and disaster. Psychiatry. 2005;68:95-113.
7. Edgar J, Woolven R, Durodié B, Wessely S. Public panic and morale: second world war civilian responses re-examined in the light of the current anti-terrorist campaign. Journal of Risk Research. 2006;9(1):57-93.
8. Keating JP. The myth of panic. Fire J. 1982;57-147.
9. Guillemin J. Inventing bioterrorism: the political construction of civilian risk. In: Hartman B, Subramaniam B, Zerner C (eds.) Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 2005.
10. Blendon J, DesRoches PH, Benson J, Herrman M, Taylor K, Weldon K. The Public and the Smallpox Threat. New England Journal of Medicine. 2003;348(5):426-32.
11. Laqueur W. Postmodern terrorism. Foreign Affairs. 1996;75(5):24-36.
12. Kupperman R, Trent D. Terrorism: Threat, Reality, Response. Stanford: Hoover Institution Publication; 1979.
13. Stern J. The Ultimate Terrorist. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 1999.
14. Dishman C. Trends in modern terrorism: review article. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 1999;22:361.
15. Wilkinson P. Terrorism and The Liberal State. London: Macmillan Press; 1977.
16. Slovic P. The Perception of Risk. London: Earthscan; 2001.
17. Gigerenzer G. Out of the frying pan into the fire: behavioral reactions to terrorist attacks. Risk Analysis. 2006;26:2.
18. Dingfelder SF. Curbing risk-taking, protecting the public. American Psychology Association Monitor on Psychology. 2004;35:8.
19. Hassett A, Sigal L. Unforseen consequences of terrorism: medically unexplained symptoms in a time of fear. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:1809-13.
20. Petrie KJ, Wessely S. Modern worries, new technology, and medicine. BMJ. 2002;324:690-1.
21. Kasperson R, Renn O, Slovic P, Brown H, Emel J, Goble R, Kasperson J, Ratick S. The social amplification of risk: a conceptual framework. Risk Analysis. 1988;8:177-87.
22. Fischhoff B. The psychological perception of risk. In: D Kamien (ed.) The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2006.
23. Lofstedt RE. Science communication and the Swedish acrylamide "alarm". J Health Comm. 2003;8:407-32.
24. Diesler PF. A perspective: risk analysis as a tool for reducing the risks of terrorism. Risk Analysis. 2002;22(3):405-13.
25. Guillemin J. Bioterrorism and the hazards of secrecy: A history of three epidemic cases. Harvard Health Policy Review. 2003;4(1):36-50.
26. Merridale C. The collective mind: trauma and shell-shock in twentieth century Russia. Journal of Contemporary History. 2000;35:39-55.
27. Merridale C. Night of Stone: Death and Memory in Twentieth Century Russia. London: Penguin; 2002.
28. Lofstedt RE. Risk Management in Post-Trust Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan; 2005.
29. Slovic P. Perceived risk, trust, and democracy. Risk Analysis. 1993;13:675-82.
30. Hobson-West P. Understanding vaccination resistance: moving beyond risk. Health, Risk and Society. 2003;5(3):273-83.
31. Stokes J, Banderet L. Psychological aspects of chemical defense and warfare. Military Psychology. 1997;9:395-415.
32. Betts R. The new threat of mass destruction. Foreign Affairs. 1998;77:26-41.
33. O' Brien L, Payne RG. Prevention and management of panic in personnel facing a chemical threat - lessons from the Gulf. J R Army Med Corps. 1993;139:41-5.
34. Holloway H, Norwood A, Fullerton CS, Engel Jr CC, Ursano RJ. The threat of biological weapons: prophylaxis and mitigation of psychological and social consequences. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1997;278:425-7.
35. Fullerton C, Ursano R. Behavioral and psychological responses to chemical and biological warfare. Military Medicine. 1990;155:54-9.
36. Bowler R, Mergler D, Huel G, Cone JE. Psychological psychosocial and psychophysiological sequelae to a community affected by a railroad disaster. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 1994;7:601-24.
37. Page LA, Petrie KJ,Wessely S. Psychosocial responses to environmental incidents: a review and a proposed typology. J Psychosom Res. 2006;60:413-22.
38. Petrie K, Broadbent E, Kley N, Moss-Morris R, Horne R, Rief W. Worries about modernity predict symptom complaints following environmental pesticide spraying. Psychosom Med. 2005;67:778-82.
39. Shusterman D, Lipscomb J, Neutra R, Satin K. Symptom prevalence and odor-worry interaction near hazardous waste sites. Environmental Health Perspectives. 1991;94:25-30.
40. Winters WDS, Van Diest I, Nemery B, Veulemans H, Eelen P, Van De Woestijne K, Van Den Bergh O. Media warnings about environmental pollution facilitate the acquisition of symptoms in response to chemical substances. Psychosom Med. 2003;65:332-8.
41. Gifford RK, Ursano RJ, Stuart JA, Engel CC. Stress and stressors of the early phases of the Persian Gulf War. Philosoph Trans Roy Soc B. 2006;361:585-91.
42. Brewer N, Lillie S, Hallman WK. Why people believe they were exposed to biological or chemical warfare: a survey of gulf war veterans. Risk Analysis. 2006;26:337-45.
43. Stuart J, Ursano R, Fullerton CS, Norwood AE. Belief in exposure to terrorist agents: reported exposure to nerve or mustard gas by Gulf War veterans. J Nerv Mental Dis. 2003;191: 431-436.
44. Murakami H. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. London: The Harvill Press; 2000.
45. Asukai N, Maekawa K. Psychological and physical health effects of the 1995 sarin attack in the Tokyo subway system. In JM Havenaar, JG Evelyn, J Bromet (eds.) Toxic Turmoil: Psychological and Societal Consequences of Ecological Disasters. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers; 2002.
46. Pangi R. Consequence management in the 1995 sarin attacks on the Japanese subway system. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 2003;25:421-48.
47. Olson KB. Aum shinrikyo: once and future threat? Emerging Infectious Diseases. 1999;5:513-6.
48. Durodie W, Wessely S. Resilience or panic? The public and terrorist attack. Lancet. 2002;360:1901-2.
49. Glass A, Schoch-Spana M. Bioterrorism and the people: how to vaccinate a city against panic. Confronting Biological Weapons. 2002;34(15):217-23.
50. Dwyer J, Lipton E, Flynn K, Glanz J, Fessenden F. Fighting to live as the towers dies. The New York Times. 2002: 26 May.
51. Proulx G. Researchers learn from world trade center survivors' accounts. Construction Innovation. 2003;8:1-3.
52. Huddy L, Feldman S, Capelos T, Provost C. The consequences of terrorism: disentangling the effects of personal and national threat. Political Psychology. 2002;23:485-509.
53. Goode E. Now, Fear of Flying is More Than a Phobia. New York: Times; 2002: 29 January.
54. Hoyle R. A year later, a city is still on edge. New York Daily News. 2002, 1 September.
55. Schoch-Spana M. Educating, informing, and mobilizing the public. In BS Levy, VW Sidel (eds.) Terrorism and Public Health: A balanced approach to Strengthening Systems and Protecting People. New York: Oxford University Press; 2003.
56. Blendon RJ, Benson JM, DesRoches CM, Herrmann MJ, Harvard School of Public Health/Robert Wood Foundation survey project on Americans' response to biological terrorism, tabulation report, October 24-28, 2001. Available from: http://www.hsph.Harvard.edu/press/releases/blendon/report2.pdf, [accessed 24 April 2006].
57. Schaffer D, Armstrong G, Higgins K, Honig P, Coyne P, Boxwell D. Increased US prescription trends associated with the CDC Bacillus anthracis antimicrobial postexposure prophylaxis campaign. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2003;12:177-82.
58. Blendon RJ, Benson JM, DesRoches CM. Using Opinion Surveys to Track the Public's Response to a Bioterrorist Attack. J Risk Comm. 2003;8:88.
59. Vanderford ML. Communication lessons learned in the emergency operations center during CDC's anthrax response: a commentary. Journal of Health Communications. 2003;8:11-2.
60. Logan J. The Impact of Katrina: Race and Class in Storm-Damaged Neighborhoods. Brown University, [http://www.s4.brown.edu/katrina/report.pdf], accessed 26 May, 2006.
61. Rubin GJ, Brewin CR, Greenberg N, Simpson J, Wessely S. Psychological and behavioural reactions to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005: cross sectional survey of a representative sample of Londoners. BMJ. 2005;331:606-11.
62. Fullerton C, Brandt B, Ursano R. Chemical and Biological Weapons: Silent Agents of Terror in Ursano R and Norwood A. Emotional Aftermath of the Persian Gulf War: Veterans, Families, Communities, and Nations. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1996.
63. Cook T. "Against God-inspired conscience": the perception of gas warfare as a weapon of mass destruction, 1915-1939. War and Society. 2000;18:47-69.
64. Haber LF. The Poisonous Cloud, Chemical Warfare in the First World War. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1986.
65. Cook T. Review essay: from great war to gulf war: chemical warfare in the twentieth century. Canadian Military Journal. 2001;81-4.
66. Tu A. Chemical Terrorism: Horrors in Tokyo Subway and Matsumoto City. Fort Collins, Colorado: Alaken; 2002.