Effects of Torture

“One never heals from torture. One merely learns to cope with the aftermath.”

- Sister Dianna Ortiz, tortured by the Guatemalan military

The effects of torture linger with the victim long after the torture itself has ended. Recovery from physical injuries can require extensive therapy and rehabilitation, and as Sister Dianna explains, torture victims struggle with the lasting physical and psychological impacts of their experience for for the rest of their lives.


There are several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) dedicated to helping people recover from torture; I list many at the end of this post. One, the Minnesota-based Center for Victims of Torture (CVT),  which provides services world-wide but particularly in the United States, Africa, and the Middle East, describes some of the physical effects they have seen their clients struggle to recover from:

• Headaches
• Chronic pain
• Hearing and vision loss or problems
• Dental pain
• Respiratory problems
• Sexual difficulties
• Neurological damage

However bad the physical effects of torture, the psychological injuries can be worse. Karni Ginzburg and Yuval Neria explain in their article, "Mental Health Interventions for Survivors of Torture: Current Status and Future Directions":

“A growing body of evidence on the implications of torture and atrocities experienced by prisoners of war or survivors of political violence presents a consistent picture of multifaceted injuries and long-lasting emotional and functional difficulties, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, endured shame and guilt, disability and impaired quality of life, and increased interpersonal aggression. Exposure to prolonged and repeated intentionally inflicted aggression not only evokes substantial distress but also affects victims’ personality, resulting in dissociation and an impaired sense of identity as well as profound changes in attachment and relationship and victims’ core belief system.”

In other words, the effects of torture--PTSD, increased interpersonal aggression, dissociation, and impaired sense of identity--are exactly the results that torture is designed to produce: the dehumanization of the person, and the denial of his or her essential dignity as a human being. Murphy described how the purpose of torture is to "reduce [the person] to a terrified, defecating, urinating, screaming animal," and this is exactly what is produced. The horrific truth, however, is that the product is not simply obtained in the torture chamber, to be forgotten and reversed once the perpetrator and victim separate. The results of torture are persistent and will be with the victim for the rest of his or her life.

The first statement that CVT makes on their "Resources for Survivors" webpage is this:

You are not alone.

One overwhelming theme found in the stories of survivors of torture is that they have difficulty trusting people, particularly those who wear a uniform. They shut themselves off, both physically and socially, and it can be very difficult to provide them with the assistance they need. Many torture survivors are ashamed of their experience being tortured because of what was done to them and what they were forced to do. They refuse to self-identify as torture survivors to the people who can help them, and when they do it takes time for them to trust the people who want to help them.

Fortunately, there are many organizations around the world that are dedicated to identifying and providing assistance to those who survive torture. You can learn about some of them by following the links I have listed in the Resources section.

Resources:

The Center for Victims of Torture

The Center for Torture and Trauma Survivors

The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims

The Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture

The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International

To see more NGOs and resources, go to www.google.com and type in "torture survivor help"

References:

Ginzburg, Karni, and Neria, Yuval. "Mental Health Interventions for Survivors of Torture: Current Status and Future Directions." Journal of Psychiatry. 219.3 (2011): 187-189.

Grady, Denis. "Tugging at Threads to Unspool Stories of Torture." 02 May 2011. The New York Times. 17 Feb 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/health/03torture.html?_r=1&src=rechp&pagewanted=all>