13
The story describes
• A dissociated state and fragmented memory .
• Multiple traumas .
• That repressed traumas may be triggered by a new trauma ( in this case an earthquake ).
Rama from Nepal
Rama is 13 years old . Her mother , Sunita , is single . They live in Kathmandu .
Sunita had been forced to marry her brother-in-law . He abused her physically and sexually until she ran from her village and came to Kathmandu , taking Rama with her . Rama was then very young . Sunita took two jobs to earn enough to survive . But she lived close to her sister and her husband who helped her to take care of Rama .
Sunita was also supported by the church community and made good friends with a couple from Britain at her workplace . Rama also went to church regularly and attended Sunday school . She had lots of friends and was a happy girl .
When Rama was around 5 to 6 years old , her mother worked in a school as a cleaner . The school provided them with a small flat . Rama used to be on her own when her mother was working . One man at the school was like a father figure to Rama . He used to play with her and sometimes took her on outings when Sunita was working . Rama was happy because the man gave her affection and attention . She wanted him to spend time with her .
When Rama was 13 , Nepal experienced a major earthquake . Afterwards , Sunita ’ s friend from the UK noticed that Rama was acting strangely and was very anxious . After a while , she took Rama to see a counsellor . The counsellor was told that Rama had become anxious during and after the earthquake and that the earthquake may have affected her .
During Rama ’ s first session , the counsellor tried a technique called EMDR ( eye movement desensitisation reprocessing ). EMDR is a way of tapping into the unconscious and Rama therefore started to reveal things of which she was not herself completely aware . She became very anxious and it took the counsellor a long time to calm her down . Rama said that she saw the figure of a dark man and then that he was going into a deep well . After several sessions , one day she told the counsellor that a man had abused her sexually . When asked more questions , she gradually shared more information about the incident .
Reactions
Once she realised that she had been sexually abused , Rama suffered mentally even more . While continuing her counselling , she also saw a psychiatrist , and was on medication . Despite her treatment , she suffered a range of symptoms .
She became scared and anxious . She was afraid to be on her own , and feared closed places . She stopped going to school because she couldn ’ t concentrate . She was scared when she saw the school gate and refused to go in . She had nightmares and sometimes her mother said she woke up at night and stared into space . When she went back to sleep , Sunita had to wake her from this state .