“Mrs. Khan, is your husband home?, the Army Ranger asked the disheveled lady after a recent bombing in the district school. “No, he’s still at work. Why, what’s wrong? Has he done something wrong?” she replies in a submissive and concerned tone. “No. We regret to inform you that your son has been the victim of a school bombing today. We’re still doing a search operation in the vicinity. We’re truly sorry for your loss”. Mrs. Khan is left broken and stunned. Her son’s life flashes before her eyes and she breaks down in a flurry of tears. She has lost something dearer to her than her own life
This is a hypothetical situation but it is the reality for a vast amount of people (specifically people who live near the peripheries of the country and are at risk of terrorist activities). Those who live in the capital or adjoining areas may not be very exposed to this kind of activity first-hand and although that is a very good thing, it takes away from the sheer amount of psychological pressure that families who have been victim of such a terrorist attack go through. Of course, our hearts go out to the individuals who have lost their lives as well as their families that have to bear the loss of their own flesh and blood but the pain they themselves feel is something entirely foreign to us.
Terrorism not only affects those who become victims of its barbaric fury but also the ones linked to the victims: their family, friends, and other loved ones. Studies done on survivors of terrorist attacks in the United States and the Middle East show that they suffer highly from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for a considerable amount of time after the attack has already taken place and the fear continues to pervade their unconscious for even longer. Fear is an emotion that we experience after the brain processes a threatening stimulus through the amygdala and releases stress hormones, a process known as the “fight or flight” response. It is usually spoken of very lightly, but true survival situations stretch the nervous system to its utmost limits, and the person undergoing this stress rarely ever recovers from this event, and even if they do it is never a complete recovery.
As defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition (DSM-IV): “a traumatic event—or witnessing such an event—triggers fear, helplessness, or horror in response to the perceived or actual threat of injury or death to the individual or to another” (APA, 1994). This trauma reaches far into the lives of not just people who end up surviving the attacks or stressful and traumatic events but also of the ones affiliated with them. Trauma is, of course, not limited to the one bearing it directly, it is also felt by those who are we are closest to. Imagine the pain you felt when you were first hit with the news of your grandparent or a loving relative’s death, and while imagining that pain try to take it to the level of the pain a parent feels whose pride and joy has just been brutally massacred in the name of some barbaric ideology, in cold blood.
Terrorist attacks like the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center, the APS Peshawar massacre in 2014, as well as recent bombings of mosques in the city of Peshawar, are all designed to instill fear, create chaos, and produce an overall sense of unrest and unease. There is always the underlying feeling of uncertainty about when such an attack will happen again, creating anxiety and stress even in its absence. Studies done on the effects of terrorist attacks on survivors and the family members of victims all point to the increased risk of severe PTSD and emotional turmoil, substance abuse, insomnia, unrest, as well as many other psychological effects that impact their daily lives.
The families of those lost to the attacks of groups like the TTP and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan are under extreme duress and rightfully so, as their children as young as 4 years old are either victims of senseless killing at the hands of these extremist groups or are abducted and indoctrinated to fight on the front lines in their name. These families go without justice, without reprimand, and without any hope that their children’s or family members’ lives will be avenged. Their hopes are tarnished as more and more attacks like these take place and people who are affiliated with these groups are allowed to roam free and unchecked. For parents who have lost a child, the pain is indescribable. They suffer depression, anger, guilt, despair, and loneliness. The continuous nagging feeling of “if only” gnaws at their mind and they surround themselves with grief and guilt that usually never fully fades. It also translates into anxiety for their remaining children, growing over-protective or extremely over-vigilant with them which only deepens their wounds.
Although overall extremist tendencies in Pakistan had diminished up to the year 2020, more and more of these sentiments are starting their upward spiral now. Recent events in Swabi, Waziristan, and the almost yesterday happening of mosque blast in Peshawar are all proof of the fact that the underlying problems regarding terrorism and extremist ideologies are still prevalent.
“Although parents mourning the loss of a child are, in many ways, experiencing classic grief responses, the usual battery of psychological, biological, and social repercussions, there are many unique challenges. The trauma is often more intense, the memories and hopes harder to let go of” (Joshua, 2022). This trauma is even more ingrained within a parent when the child is the unwilling victim of a senseless atrocity and the knowledge that the child’s death and his last moments were full of pain and suffering are extremely frightening thoughts for any parent. We need to bring to light the far-reaching psychological impacts that terrorism brings to families of affectees as well as survivors and also work to create a sense of security that ensures that events like these don’t occur again. Or even if they do, we can cut our losses and have one less family grieve over their deceased child.
