Don Greene is no stranger to stress; one might even say he’s built his career around it. A former Green Beret who trained the San Diego Police SWAT Team in counterterrorism, Greene went on to serve as sports psychologist for the U.S. Olympic Diving Team, the World Championship Swimming Team, Golf Digest Schools, and the Vail Ski School. In 1998 he joined the Juilliard faculty, having adapted his “peak performance readiness” training for musicians facing the pressures of auditions and performances.

When he was recruited to work with Merrill Lynch traders over a year ago, Greene never dreamed that his much-needed skills would find a new application as his Wall Street clients dealt with the aftereffects of the horrific September 11 attacks. He was thus the perfect person to present an hour-long talk for Juilliard staff on November 9 in Morse Hall, offering them an opportunity to air their anxieties and consider additional coping skills to reduce their stress level.

Staff members nodded in recognition as Greene outlined the phases everyone in the room had been through in the past two months. First, there was utter shock, during which we were glued to the television in a daze. A few days later, as most of us attempted to get back to work, our anxieties were fueled with too little sleep and too much coffee or junk food, disrupting our ability to focus. Though the nightmares may now be subsiding and the obsessive conversations on the topic of terror less frequent, Greene said that the anxieties have burrowed in deep and can resurface at any time in unpredictable ways.

'Don’t drive yourself crazy imagining the worst... Affirm that you can handle whatever happens; we’ve already handled a lot.'

At all stages of dealing with anxiety, sleep is disrupted and the resulting exhaustion throws everything out of kilter. Studies conducted at Cornell Medical Center about six years ago revealed a much greater need for sleep than was previously thought to be the case. Highly functioning people need at least eight hours of sleep a night, and nine or 10 are preferable for those under stress. Greene said he has pleaded with students to get 10 hours of sleep before auditions rather than spend extra time practicing or rehearsing.

Dreaming also plays a critical role in psychological health, allowing problems we cannot focus on during the day to be worked out in the unconscious at night. We dream every night, say the experts, whether we remember our dreams or not. What is crucial, said Greene, is knowing how to prepare for sleep (as well as what to do, and what not to do, if sleep is interrupted). Prepare for bed an hour before, lowering physical and mental activity, advised Greene (citing the principles espoused in the book Power Sleep, by James B. Maas). Wind down with a bath or a glass of warm milk, listen to soothing music or read a boring book. Make sure that your bed and pillow are comfortable. If you wake up in the middle of the night, don’t get up or turn on the lights; don’t use the time for stressful analysis. Complete, relaxed rest will provide 80 percent of the benefits of actual sleep.

Greene reassured staff members that their responses were normal, and that problems they were having—such as inability to concentrate or finding meaning in our own work compared with that of those in the rescue efforts—would abate with time. A byproduct of this ordeal, noted Greene, is “inappropriate guilt”—such as that felt by a woman who quarrelled with her husband on the morning of September 11 before he headed for work at the World Trade Center. Regrets are not guilt, which is “feeling bad about having deliberately caused harm to someone.”

A question voiced by several people was, what can we do to help ourselves feel safer? First of all, said Greene, we must realize that no area of life is devoid of risk. As someone who has long been an expert on many dangers the general public has only recently become aware of—bioterrorism, nuclear attack—he urged his audience to maintain their perspective by realizing that the probability of further mass events remains very small.

Staff members with small children observed that time spent immersed in family activities, away from radio and television, was very therapeutic. But, even while feeling that they were coping fairly well, some people were surprised to discover how quickly the sight and sound of converging emergency vehicles could send them into tears and panic. Greene said he calls these things “zingers”—real or imagined threats that instantly kick adrenalin into the bloodstream, affecting our breathing and heart rate. The effects are mental as well as physical: we become hypervigilant; our brains go into overdrive and race in various directions, anticipating other dangers.

It is our own perception of a situation, pointed out Greene, that determines whether fear takes hold of us, or we maintain our ability to function. We can choose between two opposing responses. A positive interpretation—say, by a musician facing an audition—would be, “This is a big event and my body knows it; there’s adrenalin in my system. I’m really up for this, and I’m going to use this energy, and it’s going to be great!” People who do poorly feel exactly the same thing, observed Greene, but they think, “Oh, no—why now? I’ve worked for a month and now I’m so nervous. This is not going to be any good; this is going to be a disaster.” Don’t drive yourself crazy imagining the worst, advised Greene. Remember: those sirens do not necessarily mean anything other than that the firemen are late for their coffee break. Affirm that you can handle whatever happens; we’ve already handled a lot.

Dealing with others who may not be in the same place you are (literally and figuratively) presents another difficulty for some people. Greene advised letting people outside New York know what the ongoing burden feels like, and urging those who might still seem traumatized to seek help. Recall, use, and build on your courage, he said. Practice relaxation strategies, stay connected with loved ones, turn to counseling when necessary, maintain as much as you can of normal routine. And above all, be patient—with yourself and others.