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LCM Bookstore: Order Tapes and Transcripts Check out The Infinite Mind's broadcast date and time in your area
Copyright © 1997-2002
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 State of Mind: America 2002: Robert Boorstin discusses the results of The Infinite Mind/American Psychological Association Poll. From the Museum of Television & Radio in New York City, The Infinite Mind's John Hockenberry begins with the numbers from a poll commissioned by The Infinite Mind and the American Psychological Association and conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rossner Research in early February. He discusses the results of the poll with Robert Boorstin, vice president of research at GQR. Hockenberry asks what the goal was, what the poll was trying to find out. What were the surprises? Boorstin replies that the poll was essentially trying to answer Dr. Goodwin's question of how we are doing, using a snapshot of 1500 people from around the nation and another 400 from New York City and DC. It found that about one in four people were not doing as well now as they have been at other times in their lives-they are more depressed and/or anxious. Most of this can be explained by personal trauma or financial woes, but 16 percent of those one in four attribute the problems they're experiencing directly to the events of September 11th. On the other hand, Americans are moving on from the terrorist attacks--since November economic concerns have replaced terrorism as the country's chief worry. Hockenberry asks what Boorstin, himself a noted mental health advocate, was most interested in learning about the one in four people reporting trouble coping. Boorstin replies that the question in his mind was whether these people are getting treatment, whether they're seeking help. The poll found that while about seven percent of all of those surveyed had visited a therapist as a result of September 11th, in the subgroup of 16 percent that figure was about three times greater, but that's only about 20 percent. Overall, the poll shows that a significant amount of people are still affected and saying they are affected by the terrorist attacks. Still, people are resolved and resilient and engaged in soul-searching, trying to pay more attention to what really matters. After the statistics about how people are doing, we put a human face on some of the numbers. John Hockenberry introduces Billy Watkins, from Jackson, Mississippi. He asks how the events of September 11th resonated in that community. Watkins says that growing up, New York sometimes seemed a long, long ways away-not even real. But now, that gap is closed-New York and Jackson seem much closer. People were lining up around the block to give blood in Jackson. It was a lot tougher on people there than they ever thought something that happened in New York could be. Next, from Connecticut, Captain Scott Shields and his rescue dog, Bear. They were one of the first canine rescue teams at the World Trade Center site. Captain Shields hasn't been able to sleep more than three or four hours a night since. He says he thinks that despite the trauma he is a better person from the experience and that New York is a better city. Jill Nees is in the audience from Oklahoma City. She had just moved back there from Los Angeles before the 11th. She is in New York to offer lessons from her experience of the 1995 bombing. |
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