Their mission? To give the committee an idea of how New Yorkers,
and Americans in general, have been psychologically affected by
the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks and what kind of
mental health resources Americans need as a result. The
psychiatrists’ major message was that the psychological impact
of the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies has been
enormous and will remain so for some time to come. As North
explained it: "When disasters occur, subsequent psychiatric
disorders tend to cluster most densely at the disaster epicenter
and diminish as one moves outward, generating ever smaller waves
as ripple effects reach the periphery. Those injured and those
who fled for their lives from the burning World Trade Center
towers and the Pentagon already have suffered physical and
emotional distress, but also will suffer the most frequent and
severe mental health consequences. Ripple effects will extend to
people who evacuated from nearby buildings and others who
witnessed the disaster unfolding from