Greater Cincinnatians can expect a bewildering wash of emotions — from shock and fear to a thirst for revenge — as they try to make sense of the terrorist attacks that rocked the nation Tuesday, local experts say.

        In the coming days and weeks, Americans who witnessed the attacks on the news and in person will experience a cycle of emotions as the chilling facts surrounding the attacks are made public.

        “They can expect to experience a whole range of feelings, and very strong ones,” says Dr. David A. Seltzer, director of psychiatry at the Fort Hamilton Hospital and Butler Behavioral Health Services. “Something like this is extremely upsetting. Some people will be overwhelmed emotionally. Some will be terrified and some will be terribly angry. Some will be both. We're not accustomed to being attacked on our own soil.”

Family concerns        

        In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, most people's first concern is for their own and their loved ones' safety.

        “When you have any real disaster like this, individuals go through an initial stage of shock, sort of trying to get their bearings,” said Dr. W. Michael Nelson, a psychology professor at Xavier University. “What's happened? What's gone on? Am I safe? Is my family safe?”

        In the followingdays, witnesses and survivors begin seeking more definite answers: Who's responsible, and what retaliation will there be?

        The images of the horror at the World Trade Centers will raise other issues for some American office workers who may be fearful of working in their high-rise office buildings.

        Amanda Orlando, on-air personality for WUBE-FM (105.1), had her own experience with high-rise anxiety during the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City.

        At the time, she worked out of an office on the 42nd floor of the Carew Tower. The building was evacuated as word of the bombing spread, “but we didn't leave, 'cause we figured if something happened, we wouldn't be able to get out anyway.”

Vulnerable feelings        

        Some are already calling for revenge, another common step in coming to grips with tragedy, Dr. Tom Davis, a psychologist at the St. Elizabeth Behavioral Health Center in Edgewood, says.

        “This is part of the way to try to work through it, because we need to shed this feeling of being vulnerable.”

        But Dr. Seltzer and Dr. Davis both point out that some scars don't heal.

        “I'm not being flip when I say something like this lasts forever,” Dr. Seltzer says. “Do you know anybody who has really gotten over Pearl Harbor? How do you get over something like that? Something has happened today that changes us and the world forever.”

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