Psychiatric Disorders Among Survivors of the Oklahoma City Bombing

ISASTERS OFFER UNIQUE OPportunities to study mental health effects of traumatic events in unselected populations.][4][5][6] The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, was the most severe incident of terrorism ever experienced on American soil. 7,8The death count totaled 167, including 19 children; the number of persons injured totaled 684.The fatality rate inside the Murrah Building was 46%, and 93% of survivors who were in the building were injured. 9 The explosion demolished or damaged more than 800 building structures, with an estimated property damage of $625 million.We studied direct survivors of the blast.Our research objectives in-cluded documenting rates of postdisaster psychopathology, examining functional impact, and identifying predictors of these difficulties to help guide mental health intervention workers in future disasters.We anticipated that the scope and severity of this event would elicit higher rates of psychopathology than previous disasters studied using similar research methods.