Sexual assault survivors need trauma-informed mental health intervention, say experts Premium

Response to sexual assault incidents in Chennai, including counselling and prevention measures, highlighted by mental health professionals.

Even before the dust on the sexual assault on a young student inside the campus of Anna University in the city had settled another incident was reported in the city on Tuesday. A research scholar from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras lodged a police complaint that a man in a bakery outside the institute campus who sexually harassed her.  

Anna University later set up a helpline number and improved security on the campus. 

Psychiatrist Lakshmi Vijayakumar, who runs Sneha, a non-governmental organisation to prevent suicides and Vidya Reddy, founder of Tulir, a non-governmental organisation working to prevent child sexual abuse, say a majority of sexually abused persons undergo post-traumatic stress disorder, which could manifest early or even after many years. This could be avoided if the abused have a helpline to call and express their feelings and fears. Such a service is lacking in the country, Ms. Reddy says.  

“They go through post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). There is guilt and anxiety about future. Those are the immediate psychological issues. A lot of that we can deal with to some extent,” Dr. Lakshmi explains. She said studies had shown that around 30%-35% of women who committed or attempted suicide had been sexually abused. Other issues include loss of trust in men and rejection of marriage and anxiety about having physical intercourse, she adds.

“As psychiatrists, we assess them for PSTD. I must do psychotherapy to assuage their guilt and make them feel more confident about themselves learn to trust and understand that what has happened is not really their faulty and the third is to help them to develop healthy relationship. For some people it can last a long time. It depends on their inner ability to cope and the family support,” she adds. 

Ms. Reddy points out that there is a whole continuum of interventional services between a counsellor and psychiatrist that is yet to take off in the country. She suggests promoting a helpline for psychological counselling like that of cybercrime alert that is currently being advertised through mobile phone caller tunes.  

“People need to understand the dynamics of sexual violence and the state of a person post an assault or physical violence. People who intervene from a mental health perspective must be trauma informed. The persons will be in an agitated state of mind. Calling someone who is trauma informed with an understanding of sexual violence to share the experience who would listen, could bring about reassurance,” she explains. “People going through trauma in their life need a trauma-informed mental health intervention. You go to a psychiatrist if you have insomnia for days and they may write a prescription to help you sleep better,” Ms. Reddy adds.