A national trauma The faces and body language of these women, as they watched the World Trade Center’s twin towers burn and collapse on September 11, 2001, reflected the horror experienced by millions of onlookers at the site or watching on television that fateful day. In addition, for thousands of people, this immediate reaction further expanded into lingering trauma symptoms—in many cases into posttraumatic stress disorder. Photo credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images, AP Photo/Ernesto Mora