'Vicarious Trauma'

'Vicarious traumatisation' is the name the psychological profession gives to the phenomenon of becoming traumatised by extended or intense exposure to the trauma of others. For briefers, debriefers, interpreters, statement-takers, researchers, commissioners, investigators and a range of other TRC staff members, exposure to the trauma of others has been intense and extended over the last 18 months. Add to this the constant litany of horror about the human capacity for torture, murder, mutilation, necklacing, stoning - and you have a vicious cocktail that would cause any normal-functioning human being intense emotional stress.

The first signs are physical and emotional fatigue, inability to sleep, irritability, difficulty in concentrating, emotional numbing, somatic complaints like stomach pains and headaches; then come fear and distrust of others, possibly concentration problems, memory complaints and aggressive behaviour. People experiencing vicarious traumatisation often feel overwhelmed and demoralised. They also begin experiencing difficulties in their personal relationships and start withdrawing from friends and family. They frequently have nightmares or bad dreams in their sleep, or intrusive thoughts during waking hours. Just like trauma survivors themselves, their tolerance for the outside world diminishes. Their outlook on the world can even become as bleak and as hopeless as the horrific stories they are exposed to in their everyday work. Depressed, they sometimes feel more emotionally vulnerable and tearful than usual.

At an early stage in the life of the commission, the TRC recognised the potential for staff to experience emotional stress and recommended a number of preventative steps. Firstly, a mental health care specialist was appointed full-time not only to assist survivors, but also to coordinate support for the staff. Secondly, the TRC contracted several psychologists around the country to run support groups for the staff on a regular basis. Both of these measures have helped staff cope with the enormous stresses of their work.

There are a number of critical factors both internal and external to the TRC that affect the emotional well-being of staff members:

Subject matter of the TRC

The emotional stress is not confined to those who come into direct contact with survivors and perpetrators - either as statement-takers, debriefers or commissioners. In fact, there are some TRC staff who work behind the scenes and never come into direct contact with survivors, but are equally affected by the stories. Inputting case histories and testimonies into a database; processing and categorising the applications of amnesty applicants; researching, investigating and writing about human rights violations - all of these activities place enormous stress on TRC staff members that can lead to vicarious traumatisation.

For the TRC staff members working behind the scenes, there is no context into which they can place the material which they read. They cannot see the survivors face-to-face, and understand how those people coped with the violations or live at present. They cannot make contact with the perpetrators and find out whether they are genuinely contrite or not. In fact, working in isolation from the human beings who are the focus of the TRC process, staff members must somehow process very emotionally charged subject matter. Without this sort of information, they start constructing the stories in their minds and fill in the details using their own imagination. One of the staff members working at the TRC explained the reaction like this: "When I listen to the people crying at the hearing on tape, I cry with them, but it remains in my head. It is tearing me apart. I find it difficult to deal with people socially. I think I have lost some trust in people. I wonder if this will ever go away."

It is probably impossible for most of the staff to process the information emotionally - there is too much of it in absolute terms and too much of it that defies normal human explanation. Because many of the people who took these jobs were sensitive and socially concerned individuals, the normal defence of emotional blunting or numbness was usually accompanied by guilt, thereby complicating and deepening the traumatisation.

Stressful working environment

Besides the difficult subject matter which they routinely deal with, TRC staff members are also forced to cope with the demands of a very stressful working environment. The TRC is under intense public and media pressures. The TRC must accomplish its job in a short time. The TRC must cope with survivors' high expectations of finding the truth, obtaining reparations, and sanctioning perpetrators. The TRC also must manage and structure new developments on a daily basis. As a result, according to staff members, the environment can be particularly intense, frustrating, and stress-inducing.

Working relationships and even their personal relationships can become the focus of some of their anger and frustration. In discussions with staff, they speak less about the content of the work than about this displaced anger.

The stresses of the transition

The context in which the TRC functions also affects the well-being of the people working within the commission. They are also affected by high levels of criminal violence in their communities. They themselves are also grappling with the challenges of the transition. And they are also negotiating a whole new range of relationships and identities in their lives in terms of language, culture, race, and politics. The society in which they also live and work is still fragile and evolving.

Role models of reconciliation

Some staff members at the TRC say that they find it difficult to uphold the ideal of 'reconciliation' all the time. Sometimes they struggle with the intense issues raised by the commission about 'amnesty', 'truth' and 'justice'. Other times they identify very closely with the survivors, and question the key assumptions about reconciliation that underlie the commission's work. As a result, some staff members may feel occasionally that they are 'failing' in the weighty task of reconciling the nation. As one staff member reported, "All I do when I get home is I lock myself in my room. Sometimes I cry. I struggle to do and feel this thing of reconciliation. People out there expect it of me, but it is very difficult - I am so disappointed in myself."

People dealing with human atrocities can expect some of these reactions and responses. They are normal responses to the abnormal. All things considered, the TRC staff have coped remarkably well with the stresses and the tasks they have confronted. One of the keys to their success is the knowledge that the work of the TRC has national importance and meaning, and has helped them to have a deeper understanding of human behaviour, themselves and politics in general. They say that they feel part of an historical process. As one staff member summed it up:

Yes, my sleeping improved. I wake up at six o'clock, not at four o'clock any more. For me the victims and the perpetrators are both human - I've gained so much understanding and learned not to judge people or put them in categories. We are all victims in some or other way. I will leave the TRC with this insight and hope to apply it in my everyday life...I participated in an historical event - the magnitude of this is still something to come to terms with.

Trudy de Ridder is a clinical psychologist who works for the Trauma Centre for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town. She has also counselled TRC staff and provided psychological support for testifiers.

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