Bombs cause no major stress for most Londoners

Bombs cause no major stress for most Londoners
By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Less than a third of Londoners suffered a significant rise in stress due to last month's deadly bomb attacks, according to a report by psychiatrists on Friday.

Muslims were more than twice as likely to suffer stress as a result of the July 7 attacks -- carried out by four British Muslim men -- with 62 percent saying it had an emotional impact.

"Muslims might think that Londoners or other people might identify them as potential bombers in the future and might fear reprisals," Neil Greenberg, senior lecturer in military psychiatry at King's College, told Reuters.

"Secondly people will certainly link the bombers to Islam and if you are Muslim you're going to be disgusted that the atrocities were done in the name of your religion."

The attackers killed themselves and 52 other people by detonating bombs on three underground trains and a bus in London on July 7, while around 700 were injured.

The survey of 1,010 Londoners by researchers from King's College and University College in London over a week later found that 31 percent reported suffering substantial stress.

The report in the British Medical Journal found less stress among Londoners now than among residents of New York and Washington after the September 11, 2001, attacks on those cities.

Forty-four percent of respondents to the equivalent U.S. survey after 9/11 reported substantial stress.

Greenberg said this was partly because the U.S. survey was carried out closer to the event, the 9/11 attacks killed more people, and had produced more dramatic imagery.

He said the fact Londoners had endured traumas such as the bombing campaign waged by the Irish Republican Army before its 1998 cease-fire would also have helped.

"If you have been through it once and you survived, you know how to cope," he said.

Much of the distress arose because people had trouble contacting relatives and loved ones due to problems with mobile phone networks after the July 7 attacks, the report said.

Greenberg said generally most people had coped well and only a small number had sought professional help.

However 32 percent reported they would now visit the city centre less and cut back on using buses, trains or the underground rail system.

The research was carried out just days before four bombers botched similar attacks when their devices failed to explode but Greenberg said these were unlikely to have made much difference.

"It's not just about the bombings, it's also about the response of the police in the way London has changed in terms of how easy it is to get on trains and having armed police around," he said.