Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Tue 06 Jun 2004Vicarious victimsMIND MOVES Marie MurrayIs it possible to be traumatised by exposure to someone else's trauma? Could you, in some extraordinary vicarious way, experience the shellshock of war, that "carnage incomparable", as if you yourself were on the battlefield? Could your ears hear the "stuttering rifles' rapid rattle" and your eyes witness the grim grotesque grimaces of death?The answer is yes: secondary exposure to trauma brings susceptibility to sharing some of the suffering and psychic pain of the traumatised, a condition known as Vicarious Traumatisation (VT).