Tragedy

Reflections on a National Tragedy

The following is the text of a speech given by Dr. Embree at the UWMC "Reflections on a National Tragedy" convocation held on September 13, 2001.

I've been given four minutes to summarize everything psychologists know about crisis management. Not only is that impossible, but I've just wasted 15 seconds telling you that it's impossible.

Be that as it may, there are at least four things human beings need when faced with a crisis of the magnitude we have all just experienced.

The first is time. In our instant culture, people want an immediate resolution to any problem they face, no matter how large. But often that just isn't possible. It takes time to assimilate, both mentally and emotionally, the enormity of an event like the tragedy of two days ago.

Many people have indicated to me that they feel numb or emotionless -- that they realize intellectually what has happened, but that they can't seem to feel it. This kind of temporary reaction is normal. It's the mind's way of shielding us from something too big to take in all at once -- of giving us time to become ready to start reacting, responding, and absorbing what has happened. Expect that this protective shell will wear away over the next few days and weeks. Give yourself time to experience the process of coming to terms with what has happened.

The second is information. One reason so many people have been glued to MS-NBC or CNN, in an obsessive search for information that is less than five minutes old, is that people need information -- lots of information -- as a way to process an event of this magnitude. The flood of concrete details, and of reflections on those details, is a way to stay anchored in reality. It's also a way to start processing what's happened, to start cutting it down to size.

Of course, when people don't have access to accurate information, they'll turn to the rumor mill, because any information is better than no information, even if it's your best friend's brother-in-law telling you that you'd better fill your tank because tomorrow gasoline will be eight dollars a gallon.

The third is venting -- an opportunity to express your shifting, often conflicting, but powerful feelings. Counselors talk about "stages of grief", but in reality the stages aren't predictable and linear. They're more like peeling the layers of an onion. There will be times of intense anger, times of panic and fear, times of sadness and sorrow, times of relative calm, but you never know what the next layer will bring. You have to let yourself go through the process of feeling whatever you are feeling at the time.

I've heard people saying things that would be horrific and unspeakable if taken literally. But taken metaphorically, they are ways of saying, "This is how strongly I feel right now." So cut others some slack and listen to what's behind the words, rather than arguing about what the words are.

The fourth is meaning. Viktor Frankl, who is something of a role model of mine, spent a lifetime reminding us that the ultimate tragedy is not suffering, but meaninglessness. Psychological studies of resilience consistently indicate that people who do the best job of surviving unimaginable tragedies are those who find a way to believe that good can come out of even the greatest evil.

The media has inspired us with stories of tremendous courage, faith, hope, sacrifice, unity -- people coming together to rebuild the shattered ruins and restore the breach. Meaning can come both through words and through action. It comes through trust that human atrocity does not have the final word.

So, my challenge to you this afternoon is to be a catalyst to help those around you to find the gifts of time, of information, of a listening ear, of the search for meaning, as we go through this difficult time together.

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