10/09/2001 - Updated 01:20 AM ET USA takes a big step forward

By Karen S. Peterson, USA TODAY

As America moves from unbridled anxiety to military action, the nation's collective psyche is turning a corner. The mourning for lives lost on Sept. 11 hasn't ended. Nor has our apprehension over what might lie ahead, our fears about the economy or our worries about more terrorists striking here at home. There is, however, a sense among many Americans that we are finally moving on. People across the country say the bombing of Afghanistan has shifted their focus: We are moving past honoring the dead to making them part of a rallying cry for a nation the president says is at war with terrorism.

"There is a shifting of attention from sadness over those who died to now being inspired by them," says Charles Figley, a social psychologist and trauma expert at Florida State University. "We are keeping them in mind as we go forward and bring them justice. They are a part of our moving on and recovering from tragedy."

We have been focusing on the past — Sept. 11 — and the unknown, he says. "Now the public can focus on military action and the offensive. We have been knocked back on our heels, but now we are sucking it up, and the direction is forward."

The nation is experiencing "a collective sigh of relief, mixed with a sense of trepidation," says Jeffrey Smalldon, a forensic psychologist in Columbus, Ohio. "There is a widespread belief that this sort of gesture was necessary to move things to the next stage. Everyone has been holding his breath and wondering when the military response would get underway."

Emotions run the gamut

There has been a big turnaround, says Bill Flynn, 53, of Manassas, Va. "First there was this sense of shock and mourning. Then there was this kind of a festering thing, a need for revenge, a feeling we can't let these folks get away with it."

And now that calculated military action has begun, "there is a sense of relief. And there is apprehension, a fear because we don't know what will happen next."

Smalldon cautions that summation is a bit too pat. "We are experiencing a really complex set of overlapping feelings now, an emotional turmoil."

But still, Flynn's words seem to reflect how much of the nation feels.

"Personally, I think many people had already turned this corner away from mourning," says Robert Steronko, 49, of Austin, Texas. "It will become obvious that moving to action will help the collective consciousness. It can't possibly do anything but help to have an overt action like this."

We are moving forward, "but it is scary," says Jared Holst, 16, of Englewood, Colo. Holst is relieved that the nation is taking action. "We are finally doing something. It seemed like we were procrastinating. Hopefully, it can end soon if we do this right."

Leaders tell us it won't end soon. The country has wanted it to begin since "the very next day" after the terrorist attacks, says Pamela Boyd, 53, of Olympia, Wash. But America is best served, she says, "by this very methodical, planned approach. I think we realize it is more likely to be successful than if we'd gone in the next day."

Doing something creates less angst than doing nothing, even if that something is risky, many experts say.

"People tend to deal with even bad news if it is certainty better than some level of heightened uncertainty," says Stephen Couch, a professor of sociology at Penn State University. "Military action will take some of the tension of uncertainty away."

Action is something of "a treatment for our generalized anxiety," Figley says. "It is a very ancient, human instinctive feeling to want revenge, retribution. Now we are fighting back and are not neutralized by this terrible tragedy."

Still, there is this lump of ice, this fear in the pit of the stomach. We have been told "another terrorist event is 100% likely, and that is sobering," Boyd says. "People are nervous about crowds, going to large stadiums and landmark buildings."

Anxieties linger

Those in New York and close by may be acutely sensitive.

"Working in New York weighs heavily on my mind," says Barney Herrera, 27, of Jersey City. "They say they stepped up security, but the city was supposedly secure when the airplanes crashed into the buildings" in the first place, he says. "I hate to say I've lost faith in the government, but terrorists can always find a way."

And for many, the fear is financial as the country struggles with a battered economy.

"Out here in the West, we are so far removed from what happened," says Frank Zak, 47, a Las Vegas bartender. "There is a sadness (for the dead), but we feel more of the aftermath of what is happening, the decrease in tourism. Right now, people seem more concerned about all the layoffs."

Trepidation over the nation's economic future is just one of the "threads of fear compounding our anxiety," says Joseph Ferrari, a psychologist at DePaul University in Chicago.

"If you ask people what they are worried about, they will have a litany of things," Ferrari says.

"Everyone expects the terrorists to strike again. People worry about being laid off, because the economy was shaky before all this happened. They know investors are cautious in terms of investing in the stock market. All the fears are interwoven."

There also is some ambivalence about taking military action. Figley says he has never been "ashamed" to criticize the government, but he feels the administration "has struck the right chord," combining diplomatic efforts, international support, humanitarian aid and striking only military targets.

But some people are not "comforted by taking military action," says George Bonanno, a psychologist at Teachers College at Columbia University.

"It upsets some greatly. They are not sure what to do. And they are struggling with those feelings."

Barney Herrera is adjusting to the changed landscape in New York and moving past his anger. But now he questions the administration's foreign policy. "Are we going to bomb this tiny country out of existence? That scares me." He wonders, "What is the real root of this problem? I worry we are just putting a Band-Aid on a gushing, open wound."

'On its own track in my mind'

Many are still grieving. "I see a continuation of mourning," says Everett Billingslea, 40, of Seattle. "It is separate and apart and continues on its own track in my mind."

In the short term, the remaining fears and anxieties may offset the sense that we are moving on as a nation, Couch says.

"A lot will depend on what happens over the next few days or weeks," he says. "If we have a military operation that shows some success, and if there is not some kind of massive terrorist retaliation, we will feel we have turned the corner."

Even if there are new terrorist attacks, though, the country would rally, he says. "More terrorism would be hard to deal with, a one-two punch," he says. "But we would go through something similar to what happened after Sept. 11 — shock, anger, mourning." And our resolve would be even stronger, he says. "We would see that terrorism will be absolutely a threat until its roots are weeded out."

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001

Answers

We have been told "another terrorist event is 100% likely

The only person who can ever correctly (or at least with near certainty) that something is 100% likely is the person who is planning the event. Who made this statement?

JOJ

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001