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Significant differences are observed in connection with mourning processes in
cases of natural death as compared to deaths resulting from external
violence. When death is natural, mourning goes through its natural stages
and is finally resolved through resignation and resumption of daily life
relatively soon. In the case of forced disappearance, daily normality is hardly
ever recovered, as mourning remains frozen in one of its stages, linked to
rage and non-acceptance of the outcome. There are also feelings of guilt of
the survivor together with the impossibility of an adequate closure of the
process, for which reason those feelings are a recurrent source of grief and
anguish.
The death of a child under conditions of external violence is one of the worst
“stressors” that a human being can experience. The traumatic effect on the
siblings takes place in two ways: due to the effects of grief and guilt, and the
alteration of family dynamics as a whole, caused by the parents’ grief, as they
are fixed in their memory of the missing child.
The emotional effects of such a trauma can worsen mental or physical illness.
In these cases, both the victims and next of kin have shown various types of
physical diseases and symptoms in a greater proportion than would be
expected for the general population.
In the cases studied, the families were significantly affected in the allocation
of intra-family roles and in the general dynamics of their members.
Emotional pain due to the circumstances of the traumatic events (lack of
information and denial by the bodies responsible, wandering among
assistance centers, waiting at the morgue, etc.) created very intense
ambivalent feelings. In the case of death or disappearance of the male figure
(father, brother, son who was the household provider) they lost their
economic status and even minimum subsistence conditions and support for
future projects to improve the situation of the family. For survivors with
permanent disabilities, the facts also involve loss of jobs, of spouses, and of
personal independence, giving rise to a “situation of a dependent burden.”
In connection with the families of the victims who do not know the
whereabouts of the latter, it is indispensable to establish the whereabouts,
and it would be very important for reparation measures to allow them, when
this has not yet been done, to identify the remains of their beloved ones with
certainty, in some cases, and in others to be able to bury them in an
appropriate manner. This will improve the process of overcoming symptoms
of depression through adequate development of mourning.
Psychological treatment of the victims and their next of kin is necessary to
overcome traumatic episodes, with the assistance of one or more mental
health professionals (psychiatrist and psychologist). The cost of treatment
depends on the time in therapy, which varies depending on the event and the
patient’s pre-morbid functional level. Estimated time is one year, with weekly
sessions at an approximate cost of US$30 to US$40 (thirty to forty United
States dollars) per hour of treatment, that is, an average of US$1,500.00
(one thousand five hundred United States dollars) per patient per year.
The fact that the Court is hearing the case has allowed the victims and their
next of kin to have hope regarding the real possibility of justice being served,
and it has given them trust in the effectiveness of international bodies.