Coping with terrorism: the OPM-SANG experience

Acts of terrorism will most likely continue to affect innocent victims, including members of the military, for the foreseeable future. This article presents the findings of a mental health team that intervened with a unit after a terrorist car-bombing. Contact with those individuals wounded in the attack revealed a distinct pattern of psychosocial disturbance. Most enlightening, however, are the characteristics described by many as having facilitated the development of effective coping and adaptation. The value of incorporating critical incident debriefings and command consultation by mental health professionals into a comprehensive counterterrorist program is underscored.