Jenna’s Ordeal
Jenna sits quietly on a chair, clutching the teddy bear in her hand as tightly as possible. The brightly lit room, with big glass windows does little to offer her comfort. As she sits patiently, waiting for someone to arrive, she is startled by a sudden hand being placed on her shoulder, accompanied by a sweet, gentle voice.
She turns around to find a middle aged woman, slightly tall, with long brown hair and jet black eyes staring back at her. She introduces herself as Emma, and asks Jenna her name in return. As Jenna whispers softly, Emma takes the chair opposite her and sits down. She studies Jenna carefully, trying to gauge what is going on in the 12 year old girl’s mind. A few minutes pass by and Emma notices that the young girl frequently puts her hands into her pockets and pats something. Curious to know what it is, she proceeds to ask the girl if she may know what is inside her pocket. In response, the child takes out a faded and half torn photograph of a woman with a little girl in her arms. Handing it to Emma, she says only one word- “Mumma”. This is followed by tears, as Jenna is once again reminded of all the horrors she was subjected to.
Three years ago, she returned home from school to find government soldiers in her home in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They arrested her family for working with the political opposition. Jenna was dragged to their basement and locked in a dark room. While incarcerated, she was the victim of degrading treatment – she was repeatedly raped, abused and sexually assaulted by those who held her captive. She was released after almost a month and left bleeding and disorientated on the side of a highway. As she lay on the road, groaning in pain, she was finally rescued by a woman who took her to hospital and tried contacting her family. Since they were not able to trace her family even after several attempts, the woman, along with her husband, arranged for Jenna’s escape to Turkey. A few weeks after crossing the border she came to know that her brother was also missing. Recently she heard that her sister had been killed.
Traumatised by these sudden turn of events, Jenna was referred to a therapy center in Istanbul that specialized in the treatment of victims of mass trauma events such as war, torture, earthquakes and sexual violence. The center was run by clinical psychologists, therapists, counselors and doctors- all experts in dealing with patients like Jenna who suffered from various types of anxiety disorders as a result of war trauma. Their mission is to study how people experience trauma, and make effective therapy available to the huge numbers of victims in the developing world who would otherwise receive no help.
Stories like these are not uncommon. Across the globe, specially in war stricken countries like Africa, Afghanistan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, children are living in constant fear, experiencing grave violations of their rights, their childhoods stolen. Countless children have grown up knowing nothing but war and conflict. Globally, approximately 426 million children live in conflict zones today- most of which have tripled around the world since 2010, impacting innocent children like Jenna the most.
Depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are the most common mental disorders in the aftermath of war for both adults and children, occurring in almost one third of the people directly exposed to traumatic war experiences. However, for children in particular, the detrimental effects of war trauma are not restricted to specific mental health issues, but include a broad and multifaceted set of developmental outcomes that affect a child’s social skills, along with academic performance and general life satisfaction.
What may seem like a small incident to many, proved to turn Jenna’s life upside down. She’s afraid of touch and tends to get upset or frustrated at the smallest of things. Even as therapists like Emma try to console her and convince her into believing that she is now in safe hands, she suffers from attachment and trust issues, living in a constant state of anxiety, lest anyone tries to harm her again. So, what do psychologists like Emma do in order to help those like little Jenna?
A common form of treatment used in such cases is Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). This incorporates trauma-sensitive interventions with cognitive behavioral techniques, humanistic principles, and family support that relies on the participation of trusted parents and/or caregivers in the treatment process. TF-CBT is effective for children, teens, and adolescents who have significant emotional difficulties from a traumatic event. After observing Jenna for a while, psychologists at the center decided to couple her TF-CBT treatment with play therapy and art therapy. During such sessions, Jenna was given a variety of toys and games to choose from, including paints, colors, drawing books etc. Her mannerisms were observed and after 10 sessions, Jenna slowly started showing signs of improvement. She made a conscious effort to interact with the other children there, paid attention when she was being taught and became more independent, learning how to fold her clothes and make her own bed. While it was noticed that the young girl was fond of soft toys and dolls, she was particularly attached to one soft toy, that of a teddy bear, which she claimed looked like the one her mother had stitched for her on her 10th birthday. She took her teddy bear wherever she went, and hugged it tight as she went to sleep every night. While this may seem like a normal behavior for a girl her age to indulge in, Emma, along with her assistants, were able to conclude that this was merely a psychological response to the trauma faced by the young girl. Increased clinginess and bed wetting was something they had noticed of late, leading them to try and re-establish familiar routines of home and community life, schooling her along with her fellow young survivors, in order to help them achieve a sense of normality.
It is said that children are often incredibly resilient. Given the right kind of help and protection, in a safe environment can help them recover from a really traumatic past. When Jenna was first brought in, she was a skinny young girl, afraid of everyone around her. She refused to divulge any details regarding her personal life and preferred keeping to herself. However, after just a week, she appeared much more calm and self-assured. She said that she was trying to distract herself in order to be able to function well. She seemed proud, and also grateful, of all the help she was receiving from those around her.
One might think, given what happened to her, that a recovery of this scale would take months of intensive therapy. Yet, Jenna began to get better after five. Apparently, a similar rate of improvement is observed in many clients undergoing therapy for similar reasons as Jenna. Their successes challenge many of our common notions about the resilience of the human mind. While some people understandably crumble after extraordinarily distressing events, others, like Jenna, have an extraordinary capacity to rebound and survive. Tales of extreme resilience are very rarely portrayed in the media- on the contrary, after every tragedy, we are more often reminded of the permanent scars an event can leave on the mind.
Thus, it is high time we acknowledge the fact that it is possible to win over trauma and its harrowing effects. It may take some time- mainly because everyone has different ways of coping with the impact an event may have had on their personal lives. But at the end of the day, just like Jenna, it is in our control whether or not we choose to try and actively improve our circumstances. After all, surviving trauma is not only about recovery but also about growth.
About The Author
Anusha Chakrabarti , Member of the PsyCreative Column
Psychology Committee, SDSOS, NMIMS
The author is an 18 year-old girl currently pursuing Applied Psychology at a reputed university in Mumbai, India. She was drawn to Psychology early on as it dealt with the workings of our brain and cognitive processes and its impact on human behavior, personalities, attitudes and mental and physical well-being. Through her blogs, she aims to talk about her perspectives on the subject.
Her other interests include singing - she is a trained Hindustani classical singer and loves taking part in debates and extempore. Interacting with different people and listening to their ideas and views is something that she personally finds quite enriching. She also enjoys reading books, listening to music and watching movies. Being an animal lover, her favorite pastime is playing and spending time with her little puppy at home.
Image Source: Unsplash, Google
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