Expert Says Security Steps Europe could Raise Fear Instead
26 November 2015 20:10 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Brussels - In a Paris train station, an electrocuted pigeon on the tracks was enough to send jitters and causes people scurrying for cover, in the aftermath of the devastating attacks on November 13, 2015.
While in Brussels, the city center is often deserted as armed soldiers patrol tourist sites amid repeated government warnings that a terrorist attack is "serious and imminent."
Experts said that it will take months for Europeans to psychologically adapt to life after the Paris attacks and warn that certain government measures intended to reassure people may backfire, creating instead the impression of cities under siege.
"We go about our daily lives and every so often they're punctuated by something outrageous like a terrorist attack on an average Friday night," said Dr. David Purves of the British Psychological Society. "After that shock, something that is highly statistically unusual may suddenly feel much more likely to happen."
Purves said that measures meant to reassure people, like machine gun-toting soldiers and closed subways, might actually generate fear.
"In a time of uncertainty, we may interpret these signs of safety instead as reasons to be fearful, like why would we need armed soldiers unless there was danger?" Purves said.
AP