It's been more than a decade since the tragic attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, changed America forever. As each year passes, one essential question remains: How do we continue to memorialize that fateful day without forgetting it, but still move on?
Author and Santa Clara University psychology professor David B. Feldman joined a roundtable HuffPost Live discussion on Thursday to talk about triggers and traumas around 9/11. Feldman pointed out that people will deal with the day in different ways.
"People have been dealing with trauma and loss since the beginning of our species. 9/11 was bigger than most traumas, but people have an innate sense of how to do that," Feldman told host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani. "Some people are going to want to tune that out. They're going to want to turn off the TV. I think for them, if that's their inclination, that's probably a good thing for them. Other people are going to choose to tune in. It's a little bit like collective group therapy. Having their pain acknowledged is going to be a real healing thing for them. I guess what I would say as a therapist is trust your instinct."
Robert Klitzman, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University, also joined the conversation, highlighting the importance of remembering the events of that day. Klitzman's sister, Karen, died in the attacks.
"I think it's important to remember what happened on that day," Klitzman said. "My family and thousands of other families lost a loved one and I think that to remember the deceased and remember those who died ... to remember that sacrifice to our country, to remember the horrors of war, to remind ourselves that violence is not an answer to deal with world problems, these are all major, major lessons."
Catch the rest of the clip above, and watch the full HuffPost Live conversation here.
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