2006

The impact of developing posttraumatic stress disorder can be devastating and long-term. Research has been conducted studying the impact of being a primary victim of a disaster (Duckworth, 1991). Baum, Fleming, and Singer (1983) studied the impact of the technological disaster of Three Mile Island on citizens. Tucker et al. (2000) conducted a study on the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and found that feeling afraid or having been injured as a result of the explosion, as well as having received counseling support, were contributing factors to the presence of PTSD. Breslau et al. (1998) studied the impact of a variety of trauma, including physical assaults, serious automobile collisions, and military combat. They reported that the mean number of critical events experienced per person per lifetime was 4.8, with men experiencing more events (5.3) than women (4.3).