Belfast and the Psyche

Urban violence is easily measured in terms of those killed or wounded. But what of the impact of such disruptions on the psyche? Two Belfast psychiatrists, themselves caught in the swirl of the city's Catholic-Protestant riots during 1969, wondered how the mental health of those living near and around the barricades had been affected. In two different papers published in the current British Journal of Psychiatry, they report that, with some exceptions, there was little evidence that the troubles had led to an increase in serious psychological disturbances.

In World War II England, the number of people admitted to mental hospitals actually went down slightly. But in Belfast, according to Dr. Morris Fraser, 29, there was no "banding together in the face of a common enemy. Riots, in contrast to wars, do not seem to benefit any type of psychiatric illness." Fraser's study did find, however, that, as in war, stress appears to be "maximal in areas under threat of upheaval or attack, rather than in those areas where there is active combat or direct risk to life and property." Thus a significant increase in mental disorders was noted in areas of the city on the fringe of the major fighting.

Among those in Belfast who did suffer mental problems, Dr. Hugh Alexander Lyons found that there were more women than men (162 to 55 in one sample). "The females may have been more vulnerable to the stress operating," he suggests. "Or the more active role adopted by men, such as vigilante duty in the area, may have had a protective effect." Both doctors carefully reported a general increase in minor or so-called "normal" anxiety, but a large increase in tranquilizer use appeared to compensate for that adequately.

Long-Term Problem. Fraser, who is in charge of child guidance at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, did sound one ominous note: long-term effects in children may be serious. In an as yet unpublished study, he reports on eight children. All had a previous history of being timid and nervous, and many of their parents had a "tendency to overreact to the threatening situation." In the wake of the riots, the children's condition grew markedly worse. All were affected by such varying symptoms as fainting spells, asthmatic attacks, and visible tension at the thought of leaving the house. Two children were subject to an increase of grand mal epileptic seizures. In some cases, the response to violence persisted for a year or more. "It was as if each child had his Achilles' heel," said Fraser, explaining their differing symptoms. The vulnerable children were forced over the edge by "intolerable anxiety."

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