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Read this and come back to REALITY
We sometimes experience situations that are so surreal, that even though we are experiencing it, we cannot believe it and long after the event has passed, many of us may find ourselves waiting for the closing credits to confirm whether our own experiences were in fact ’based on a true story’. Sometimes, it’s almost as though we are those characters in the local commercial that woke up to realise they had slept with a stranger. So, like those characters we wait for the punch line where we can wipe away our fears because we, like them, are ’ just cartoons ’
Such was the experience of a 17-year-old high school student, who was drugged and raped on that one occasion when she convinced her parents to allow her to attend a Carnival fete in 2009, in the company of two girls she had always viewed as friends. The young lady felt that she was perfectly safe with the two girls with whom she had attended high school and whom she had known for five years. Those two girls had the added security of being accompanied by their boyfriends.
Revelling in her new found freedom, the 17-year-old indulged in one glass of Baileys and one rum and coke and promptly said farewell to her memory. Her next recollection was when she awoke the following morning in bed. Upon waking, the young lady felt sore in the genital area but thought that this was due to a bladder infection. She later discovered that she had a mild vaginal bleed, but ignored this too, as she expected that her menstrual cycle was about to start.
Reality only hit five days later when the young lady was informed by another school friend that she had received pictures on her telephone showing the young lady having sex with two men. Upon investigation, the young lady discovered that the men were the ’boyfriends’ of her companions at the party and that photos were in fact taken by one of these friends.
Six days after the incident, the young lady, still waiting for the credits to roll up to determine if this was in fact fiction or ’based on a true story’, visited her obstetrician/ gynaecologist. With so much time past, she could not be offered antiviral drugs against the HIV virus as the prophylaxis works best up to 72 hours after exposure, and is not at all effective after that. She was given antibiotics to protect against the common Sexually Transmitted Infections and had to submit to immediate testing for herpes and HIV with follow-up testing in 6 months. Thankfully, she wasn’t impregnated and did not contract the HIV virus but the stigma of the event remained with her for life. Other young women are not as fortunate.
As the 2010 Carnival season got into full swing, the Association of Psychiatrists of Trinidad and Tobago held a symposium on recreational drugs and rape at the Courtyard Marriott. The symposium was well attended by members of the medical fraternity led by Dr. Ian Hypolite, Medical Director of the St Ann’s hospital. The intent was to spread a message of awareness to the general public, and to alert and train doctors of patients with similar cases.
The story of the 17-year-old patient was presented by her obstetrician/ gynaecologist Dr. Sherene Kalloo and discussed by the officials in attendance.
One medical practitioner, Psychiatrist Dr Chandan Bassant Bissessar noted that while alcohol may have caused memory loss, there could have been other additives used to spike the young lady’s drinks. Ecstasy was submitted as one example.
Ecstasy (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphe-tamine) is a psychoactive amphetamine drug with entactogenic, psychedelic, and stimulant effects. Users of ecstasy get an added drive and a heightened perception of their surroundings. They also experience a sense of intimacy with others and diminished feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression. A common danger in using this drug is its ability to cause hyperthermia (overheating of the body) which could lead to death. Though Ecstasy is a banned substance in Trinidad and Tobago, the drug continues to be distributed on the black market, and has surfaced at a number of parties. Other date rape drugs identified were GHB, also known as gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, and flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol or ’roofies’.
The doctors at the conference also looked at medical facilities in place to address patients who may have fallen victim to date rape.
Dr Bissessar identified Victoria Laboratories, which has branches throughout Trinidad, as one of those laboratories which offered testing for recreational drugs. He pointed out however that urine or blood samples needed to be submitted soon after suspected ingestion.
In attending to a rape victim, Dr Aneila Sookhai, a house officer attached to the St Ann’s Hospital, spoke about the proper collection of internal and external swabs. She emphasised that it was mandatory for a female patient to be attended to by a female doctor and police officer.
She also stated that rape victims may exhibit extremely different mannerisms. One may be where the victim may express anger, fear or anxiety while the other could be controlled -here the victim is calm or masked in appearance. All victims should be monitored for Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS) or Post Traumatic Stress. Symptoms of this include fear of another attack, reliving the event, anxiety, depression, self image problems, and fear of seeing the assailant, impairment of function, withdrawal, insomnia and nightmares. Though family, religious and psychological support is very helpful, patients with RTS may need more intense psychiatric care and medication, she said.
At the end of the seminar, all the medical officers agreed on re-issuing one message to the general public: Wherever you fete for this Carnival season, do not take your safety for granted even in the company of friends and always monitor what you drink.
We sometimes experience situations that are so surreal, that even though we are experiencing it, we cannot believe it and long after the event has passed, many of us may find ourselves waiting for the closing credits to confirm whether our own experiences were in fact ’based on a true story’. Sometimes, it’s almost as though we are those characters in the local commercial that woke up to realise they had slept with a stranger. So, like those characters we wait for the punch line where we can wipe away our fears because we, like them, are ’ just cartoons ’
Such was the experience of a 17-year-old high school student, who was drugged and raped on that one occasion when she convinced her parents to allow her to attend a Carnival fete in 2009, in the company of two girls she had always viewed as friends. The young lady felt that she was perfectly safe with the two girls with whom she had attended high school and whom she had known for five years. Those two girls had the added security of being accompanied by their boyfriends.
Revelling in her new found freedom, the 17-year-old indulged in one glass of Baileys and one rum and coke and promptly said farewell to her memory. Her next recollection was when she awoke the following morning in bed. Upon waking, the young lady felt sore in the genital area but thought that this was due to a bladder infection. She later discovered that she had a mild vaginal bleed, but ignored this too, as she expected that her menstrual cycle was about to start.
Reality only hit five days later when the young lady was informed by another school friend that she had received pictures on her telephone showing the young lady having sex with two men. Upon investigation, the young lady discovered that the men were the ’boyfriends’ of her companions at the party and that photos were in fact taken by one of these friends.
Six days after the incident, the young lady, still waiting for the credits to roll up to determine if this was in fact fiction or ’based on a true story’, visited her obstetrician/ gynaecologist. With so much time past, she could not be offered antiviral drugs against the HIV virus as the prophylaxis works best up to 72 hours after exposure, and is not at all effective after that. She was given antibiotics to protect against the common Sexually Transmitted Infections and had to submit to immediate testing for herpes and HIV with follow-up testing in 6 months. Thankfully, she wasn’t impregnated and did not contract the HIV virus but the stigma of the event remained with her for life. Other young women are not as fortunate.
As the 2010 Carnival season got into full swing, the Association of Psychiatrists of Trinidad and Tobago held a symposium on recreational drugs and rape at the Courtyard Marriott. The symposium was well attended by members of the medical fraternity led by Dr. Ian Hypolite, Medical Director of the St Ann’s hospital. The intent was to spread a message of awareness to the general public, and to alert and train doctors of patients with similar cases.
The story of the 17-year-old patient was presented by her obstetrician/ gynaecologist Dr. Sherene Kalloo and discussed by the officials in attendance.
One medical practitioner, Psychiatrist Dr Chandan Bassant Bissessar noted that while alcohol may have caused memory loss, there could have been other additives used to spike the young lady’s drinks. Ecstasy was submitted as one example.
Ecstasy (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphe-tamine) is a psychoactive amphetamine drug with entactogenic, psychedelic, and stimulant effects. Users of ecstasy get an added drive and a heightened perception of their surroundings. They also experience a sense of intimacy with others and diminished feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression. A common danger in using this drug is its ability to cause hyperthermia (overheating of the body) which could lead to death. Though Ecstasy is a banned substance in Trinidad and Tobago, the drug continues to be distributed on the black market, and has surfaced at a number of parties. Other date rape drugs identified were GHB, also known as gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, and flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol or ’roofies’.
The doctors at the conference also looked at medical facilities in place to address patients who may have fallen victim to date rape.
Dr Bissessar identified Victoria Laboratories, which has branches throughout Trinidad, as one of those laboratories which offered testing for recreational drugs. He pointed out however that urine or blood samples needed to be submitted soon after suspected ingestion.
In attending to a rape victim, Dr Aneila Sookhai, a house officer attached to the St Ann’s Hospital, spoke about the proper collection of internal and external swabs. She emphasised that it was mandatory for a female patient to be attended to by a female doctor and police officer.
She also stated that rape victims may exhibit extremely different mannerisms. One may be where the victim may express anger, fear or anxiety while the other could be controlled -here the victim is calm or masked in appearance. All victims should be monitored for Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS) or Post Traumatic Stress. Symptoms of this include fear of another attack, reliving the event, anxiety, depression, self image problems, and fear of seeing the assailant, impairment of function, withdrawal, insomnia and nightmares. Though family, religious and psychological support is very helpful, patients with RTS may need more intense psychiatric care and medication, she said.
At the end of the seminar, all the medical officers agreed on re-issuing one message to the general public: Wherever you fete for this Carnival season, do not take your safety for granted even in the company of friends and always monitor what you drink.
