Responding to mental health needs after terror attacks

摘要

Serious problems identified after the 2005 London bombings still remain, argue Kate Allsopp and colleagues. Mental health responses for people caught up in terror attacks are often inadequate. Internationally, existing services repeatedly fail to identify those with short and long term needs, resulting in an increased prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety disorders compared with the general population. Health services should plan for short and longer term psychosocial care and mental health treatment for the substantial minority who need interventions.2 But the UK has been slow to learn. Many shortcomings in the response to the 2005 London bombings remained at the time of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, despite proposals for a new approach. Here, we discuss how services have evolved since 2005 and what still needs to be done.