Rape trauma
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Dear Dr. P,
I found your website about your practice online and decided to add you on Skype. I am a foreigner living in Donghae as an English teacher. I’ve been here a year now, but am going through severe depression. I don’t know how to get past this emotional burden. I have a severe weight problem and an eating disorder.
About a month ago, I was date raped. I had been suffering from a very emotional breakup from a relationship that ended because I came to Korea. I’m obsessing about death and suicide as a form of revenge against my ex. I need help. Because of my work schedule, I am not able to make appointments during the week, and would only be able to do so on weekends. Aside from that, I could make Skype appointments during my free time. I’m kind of limited on money but I need to get some help. Please help me.
Dear sender,
Many rapes are by acquaintances such as close relatives or boyfriends, and especially often during a date. Someone may wonder why it could be a serious problem if it happened between lovers. But sometimes the shock and trauma is more serious when you got stabbed in the back by someone you trusted. In that sense you may feel enormous anger and rage toward your ex-boyfriend because you are betrayed by the guy you loved and trusted.
After rape, a woman often experiences shame, humiliation, confusion, fear, and rage. If you cannot control this rage, it is repressed internally or it is discharged externally. You should be careful not to express those emotions as an extreme form of revenge like a suicide attempt.
The most important thing for you at the moment is to recover your self esteem and self respect which was hurt by the experience. Regardless of the rape, your dignity as human being has not been changed at all. If you need help from me, I will try to do my best.
Thank you.
Hi, I am trying to research some issues on Korean inpatient psychiatric care. Specifically, I am interested in the practice of observation intervals to keep patients safe. I would be grateful for your help or perhaps you know someone who can help me?
In the United States, acute inpatient facilities use observation intervals of about 15 minutes around the clock to keep patients safe. 1:1 observation is used for acutely suicidal patients but all inpatient have some type of observation. Typical stays in U.S. facilities are about one week. Once the patient is stable, they are released.
Can you tell me what the practice is in Korea? In particular:
1. Are observation intervals used universally for inpatient safety? What is the typical interval? 15 minutes?
2. Observation compliance is typically poor in the United States especially at night and on weekends. Is this also a problem in Korea? I appreciate your consideration. Thank you.
Recently, the human rights of psychiatric patients have become an important issue in Korea. So the Korean government passed the Mental Health Act for them in 1997. According to this law, at least two psychiatrists’ opinions should be concordant to admit a psychiatric patient into an inpatient unit against their will.
It means that even if the patient shows symptoms which could be harmful to them or others, two psychiatrists’ opinions should be in agreement with each other for forced hospitalization.
The law also covers the numbers of psychiatrist or nurses, facilities, or professional personnel. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mention about the time interval of observation for patients yet. Instead, it emphasize that professional personnel should take care of them responsibly. As a matter of fact, it is true that the milieu of the psychiatric inpatient unit in Korea is not as good as in the United States.
Empirically, incidents happen in the nighttime or on weekends more than the daytime or weekdays, and it may be related to the fact that there are not enough personnel at nights or weekends and there is a risk of relaxed attention due to tiredness.
I hope this helps you.
Dr. Park Jin-seng is a psychiatrist who runs a clinic for foreigners in Seoul and operates personal therapist forums on www.lifeinkorea.com. Please submit questions to him, either in English or Korean, to mdoctor@korea.com or call the hotline at 02-563-0678. Those who have their questions selected will be presented with a copy of his book “Finding Yourself within Love” (Korean e-Book).