29
because it reminds her of what happened. She has not been able to get a job
because of the disabled leg and arm; also, if she gets a job she risks losing it
because of the medical appointments. She has a problem of stricture in the
esophagus, which does not allow her to ingest food well. She feels that all
her future projects have been cut short, that her life, plans and dreams
changed radically, for which reason she feels as if she were another person.
44.
The representatives of the next of kin of the victims also submitted reports by
three experts, Magdalena López de Ibáñez, Alicia B. Neuburger and Jesús María
Casal, which are summarized below.
1.
Magdalena López de Ibáñez, psychologist.9
In all the cases that were evaluated, with slight nuances, the most frequent
psychological effect is the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, which occurs when
a person has experienced or witnessed events “involving deaths or threats to
their physical safety or that of others,” and the person tends to experience
the episode once again through various symptoms, such as intense
psychological malaise or physiological responses when exposed to stimuli that
remind him or her of an aspect of the episode; a feeling that the event could
be happening at the present time (illusions, hallucinations or flashbacks);
recurrent and intruding memories of the fact that cannot be voluntarily
avoided; shunning places, activities, or persons that remind him or her of the
traumatic event; restriction of emotional life and diminished interest in
significant activities; difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep; persistent
irritability or fits of wrath and hyper vigilance vis-à-vis their environment, and
sudden fright.
All these elements coexist with a deep depressive disorder in its various
categories, significantly restricting the quality of the person’s life.
Individuals who suffer permanent disability, in addition to the aforementioned
symptoms, suffer other physical disorders; devalued self-perception; very low
self-esteem; forced dependence which increases anger; recurrent death
thoughts or wishes; a feeling of a desolate future. Furthermore, there are
major effects on their families, who must care for and support the patient.
Repression of anger and hopelessness of the victims and their next of kin,
knowing that the system of justice has not functioned, brings fateful effects
on physical and psychological health, impedes necessary mourning, and
keeps the psychological wounds open. Psychosomatic disorders have been
observed which may relate to protracted anger and anguish. These feelings
become more acute in face of any figure of authority, in this case agents of
the State, which increases the feeling of helplessness and vulnerability
suffered by the individual, since those who caused the trauma are precisely
those whose social function is to protect the population.
9
A Venezuelan psychologist. She has conducted multiple therapeutic interventions with victims
and next of kin in the instant case since 1993.