After 9-11, conventional wisdom had it, Americans were shocked into rearranging their priorities and putting their lives in order.

As months went by, some theorized, the nation’s social trends would surely reflect this profound change.

Birth rates would rise, along with the number of people applying for marriage licenses and filing for divorces.

More people, shaken by the traumatic events of 9-11, would seek out psychological counseling services and help for substance abuse and other addictions.

The societal effects of that terrible September day would be both sudden and deep.

The big surprise is: These shifts just didn’t occur at least not in Lawrence.

To the degree that these social barometers of change can be measured, things in Lawrence stayed pretty much the same as they had been in the past few years.

In other words, it appears that, as rich in emotion and meaning as 9-11 was, people in this area apparently didn’t rush out to make major life changes in its wake.

That’s not to say some people didn’t purposely embark on new paths after 9-11.

But most of the evidence to that effect seems to be anecdotal at best.

Slight uptick in births

A check of the relevant data pertaining to a few, key social trends by Doug Hamilton, clerk of the Douglas County Court, is revealing.

“It’s pretty safe to say that there’s not been an increase in the number of marriages since 9-11, compared to the year before and the year after,” he said.

That means there’s been no significant spike in the number of people obtaining marriage licenses after 9-11 as compared to the same periods in 2000 or 2001.

The same goes for people seeking divorces in the Lawrence area.

“There’s not been an increase in the (number of) divorce filings since 9-11 compared to the previous and following year, based on the historical data,” Hamilton said.

What about a raft of babies filling the maternity ward approximately nine months after 9-11?

“We have progressively seen an increase in births our birth rate is up over last year’s. I think most definitely some people (in the nation) analyzed their lives and said, ‘We’re not going to wait to start a family. Life’s too short,'” said Isabel Schmedemann, maternal child nursing director at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

“But I don’t think that happened so much here in Kansas as it might have on the East and West coasts (where trends are quicker to surface). Our birth rate for the year, I believe, is more attributable to the growth of Lawrence and the surrounding area in the last couple of years.”

If more people decided, post 9-11, to immediately try to conceive a baby, there should have been a surge in births recorded in LMH in June.

It didn’t happen.

Solace and strength

Did more people, troubled by the psychic fallout from 9-11, seek mental health assistance?

Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, 200 Maine St., tracks each person who comes in for the first time looking to obtain treatment.

From Sept. 1, 2000, to Sept. 1, 2001, Bert Nash tracked 1,978 new clients.

From Sept. 1, 2001, to Sept. 1, 2002, the center tracked 1,992 new clients.

“It’s difficult to make a comment based on those numbers. On first glance, we would say there hasn’t been an increase in individuals seeking psychotherapy services as a result of 9-11,” said Pat Roach Smith, who works in Bert Nash’s community development office.

“But we know this happened: People sought solace from one another in naturally occurring groups such as church groups, friendship groups and work groups. That’s where people got their strength and shared their information. I observed it here, I observed it among my friends, I observed it in the community.”