It is interesting to speculate on the effects of all the trauma that US citizens are enduring with endless wars, a collapsed economy, and now the Gulf filling up with oil. What I've seen is mostly the "deer in the headlights" effect--people so stunned that they have become immobilized. However, there seems to be a sizable minority who are in complete denial thinking that things will soon return to normal.
...we kid ourselves if we think we can be a people at war for a decade without suffering consequences precisely as a people. Mostly, prescriptions for American disorder cite public issues like health care, education, the environment, and the recession. Expressing disappointment in Barack Obama has become a universal therapy. In private, we might obsess about the retirement fund, the boss’s recent coolness, a child’s place in school, or the spouse’s depression. Troubles aplenty, and plenty mundane.