Tuesday, 8 September 2009

A Quarter of Adults Suffer Lasting Trauma: Doctor

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington
07 September 2009

Around 23 percent of Cambodian adults suffer from stress disorders related to trauma experienced under the Khmer Rouge, a psychiatrist told “Hello VOA” Thursday.

Muny Sothara, a technical advisor at the Transcultural Psycho-social Organization, said the Khmer Rouge continues to have an impact on Cambodian society, families and individuals.

“The impacts either directly or indirectly still exist until the present,” he said.

A number of factors can help, he said, including receiving a sense of justice, finding employment, education, and living in an environment free from fear. Social support networks too can help survivors recover from their trauma, he said.

Asked whether the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal might bring justice to survivors, Muny Sothara said if the court “ultimately finds justice… subsequently the justice will help in the healing process.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Those of us who went through the Pol Pol era do suffer from Post Dramatic Syndrome. Many of them do exhibit these stress disorder without they themselves know it. Others have chronic nightmares. There is another group emerging, I think, the younger children and early teens who this horrific ordeal and now they are much older adults are starting to recount their horrific experiences from their childhood memories begin to have to show signs of stress disorders. Sometimes it's tough, there are a millions questions in the head especially the "why?", missing the deceased love-ones, awaiting justice. These are just a few symptoms of the stress disorders.