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7

Y

ou might think that life makes no sense,

that it is not worth living, that it is a mat-

ter of luck, or wonder why this happened

to you or your loved ones. People tend to have

the idea that the world is a place where things

happens for a reason, and where we will be able

to control the difficulties that arise.

The horror and lack of control involving a terro-

rist attack fit poorly in our way of thinking and

seeing the world. We cannot find a sense to what

happened and, in an attempt to assimilate it, our

body comes up with common reactions that, whi-

le violent and strange in some cases, are normal

when trying to find order in this sudden chaos.

The reactions that we are going to discuss below

are deemed normal, and are part of the assimila-

tion and organization process of what happened:

Images and thoughts about the event

co-

ming to your mind are deemed normal, even

if you don’t want to think about them or try to

keep them out (flashbacks).

The same goes for nightmares

about sub-

jects more or less related to the attack and its

consequences.

Chaos in your recollection of the attack is

deemed normal.

You may feel like you are mis-

sing parts of a larger puzzle.

Concentration, attention and memory pro-

blems may also appear,

and make you feel

WH AT AM I S U P P O S E D TO T H I N K ?

upset, as if you were not your regular self or as

if something serious happened to you.

It is normal to wish for the "worst"

and even

want to take revenge on those who caused the

attack, but it is not healthy to devote too much

time to these thoughts, because they cause great

unease, and may eventually turn against us.

It is normal to be wary of everything and

everyone, wary of the world in general,

and of

human beings, as they are capable of committing

such cruel acts.

It is normal to doubt everything that you

believed in,

to lose confidence in a just world,

to doubt your system of values, your faith,

everything that had guided your life up until then,

and your way of doing things, everything that you

believed in, and that gave you strength and a

sense of confidence.

Feelings of guilt

for having done, or for having

failed to do this or that to avoid damage are also

normal, but it is important to accept that these

situations are inevitably beyond our control.

Sometimes guilt comes from things said, done

or not done to the deceased. In these cases,

we need to weigh the importance of such state-

ments in everyday life, instead of now, from the

perspective of what happened.

It is normal to realize your own vulnerability,

and to think you may lose everything in a matter