Coping with disaster: two months after the terrorist attack on America, people are still trying to come to terms with the disaster and its implications. Here is advice from Dr. Bruce Perry, a specialist in helping youth cope with trauma. Learn how you can ride out what may be a roller coaster of emotions. (Special Report).

Spend time with your friends. When we talk with each other about tragic events, it helps us. Studies show that retelling traumatic events--whether witnessed or experienced--decreases the risk for long-term emotional and physical problems.

Try not to let such events make you feel unsafe in your home or school. Your home and your school are still safe. And steps--like tighter security measures at airports and public sporting events, for example--are being taken to make our lives safer.

Don't be surprised if you can't get the images out of your mind. It's normal to think about "unbelievable" events again and again. The mind stores all new experiences within the context of previous experience. But traumatic events are difficult to categorize--recurring images and thoughts result from the mind trying to find a place for a traumatic experience. Through mentally "re-experiencing" an event, the mind creates a new category for the trauma. And that allows the intrusive images to eventually fade.

Your feelings may change from moment to moment. One moment you'll be fine, the next incredibly sad, the next almost numb and robotic, and then angry. The emotional roller coaster can be exhausting, but it's perfectly normal. These feelings are part of the brain's response to a real or perceived threat. When you feel anger and anxiety, the brain's neural system, or nerve cells, activates a stress chemical called norepinephrine and releases adrenaline to the rest of the body. In the case of numbing and sadness, nerve cells release endogenous opioids, or sedative chemicals produced within the brain that help calm you.

Don't direct your anger at the wrong people. Don't spread the hate that led to this act. Don't lump all people of a certain ethnicity or religion into the same group, or blame a student in your class who's different from you. If your emotions feel overwhelming, tell an adult you trust. Don't be afraid to reach out for help.

Psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry is an internationally recognized authority on youth in crisis. Dr. Perry served as consultant on many incidents involving traumatized youth, including the Columbine High School shootings and Oklahoma City bombing.