Osama Bin Ladens’ Death: Psychologically traumatic or relieving?

When a person experiences a traumatic event they can begin to question the status of the world, sometimes changing it from a safe and friendly place to a scary and uncertain one.  It has been suggested by researchers that if the perpetrator is held accountable or captured there can be a reduction in the symptoms of PTSD as they have gained closer from the event.  After the killing of Osama bin Laden, one wonders if the same will happen for the survivors, and people affected by 9/11.  http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/ptsd/posttraumaticstressdisorder.aspx

It has been found that if a person who experiences a traumatic event is involved in restorative justice there is quicker recovery or a greater chance at recovery as there is an opportunity to address the perpetrator and gain closure.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice2019s-impact-on-participants2019-psychological-and-physical-health Restorative Justice is the process in which  the survivor gives the perpetrator tasks to do that will allow the survivor to get a sense of justice. A good example of this is the Amy Biehl Foundationhttp://www.amybiehl.org/amy.php , where the murderers who killed Amy were required to work in her organisation.  In this way the perpetrators were able to feel that they had amended for their actions and the people affected felt that they had received a sense of justice.Will people affected by 9/11 be able to get this sense of Justice after the killing of bin Laden by US military?http://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zZXyBALVs7EC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Factors+aiding+the+recovery+of+PTSD&ots=Jk6A0x1Pm-&sig=HAx724YX2IoVeytAJkftCsNvi84#v=onepage&q&f=false

This question has many confounding factors to consider.  Firstly, because America waged war in the efforts to find Osama they lost around a 1000 US military soldiers http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/1000-us-military-casualties-sept-11-inspired-war/story?id=9986252.  This contributes to the increase in people suffering from loss due to the effects of 9/11, as many families have had to suffer while their loved ones were at war.This begs the question, how many lives was bin Laden’s worth?

Secondly, the positive effects of finding Bin Laden could be confounded by the fact that the American military took 10 years to find Osama Bin Laden, therefore, many people who have suffered from the psychological impact of 9/11 may have moved on. However, with the hype and publicity of bin Laden’s killing they might start re-experiencing the memories of 9/11. Although some could find the killing of Osama a way to gain closure, for some it could simply bring back old memories of a difficult and traumatic time.http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Bin+Laden+killing+justice+for+1998+bombing+victims+Kenya/-/2558/1154760/-/w13jkv/-/

Lastly, because Osama bin Laden refused to be detained he was killed. This makes it impossible for those members of the public who wanted insight into the motives, to gain an understanding of his various behaviours and actions. If Osama had been captured and stood trial some of these questions might have been answered, allowing those people to gain understanding or attempt to engage in restorative justice.http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/profiles/blogs/killing-osama-bin-laden

The question of the psychological impact of bin Laden’s death on those who were affected by terrorist attacks is a complex investigation with many factors to consider.  Here some of these factors have been discussed briefly, but unless more research is done the exact therapeutic benefits of this will be unknown.

So in your opinion, will the Killing of Osama Bin Laden lead to the relief of psychological trauma related symptoms, for those affected by various terror attacks, such as 9/11?

The Consumer Protection Act: How does this effect medical practitioner, psychologists and counsellors?

The consumer protection act that has recently been implemented in South Africa protects buyers from multiple adverse situations, by giving them a legal foot to stand on. http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/how-the-new-consumer-law-protects-you-1.1020996 . How does this act affect service providers such as medical practitioners, psychologist, and counsellors?

According to the act section 54 a consumer has the right to good quality services, in a timely manner, with the expected quality agreed to by the provider and consumer, without any property being harmed while the service is being provided.  If the service provider does not comply with this the consumer has the right to request the service provider to fix the problems or to refund the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid. http://www.michalsons.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/consumer_protection_act_68_2008.pdf  http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/consumer-protection-act-explained-1.1041008

If one were to literally translate this into the medical practice context, it paints a disturbing and scary picture for psychologists.  It implies that should a client not be happy with the services that they receive in therapy, they will be entitled to get the services that they demand or a partial refund.  The nature of receiving services from a psychologist is a complex and multidimensional process; it requires both the consumer and the practitioner to become involved in a changing relationship.  Unfortunately there is no guarantee that such services with be effective as there is no one formulae that can be applied to all consumers.  Therefore does this new act leave psychologists and counsellor in murky water where they can expect an increase in law suits?

Although the consumer protection act from the outside creates a concern surrounding an increase in litigation in the medical field, all hope is not lost. According to Dinnie (2009) if consumers (patients) are unhappy with the services that they receive in the medical context they will be better off relying on the common law, as a partial refund of the services will not cover all the expenses to allow the consumer to seek additional medical help.  For example if a consumer undergoes surgery and is not happy with the results, if they claim under the new consumer protection act, they will be allowed a partial refund or the same surgeon fixing the problem.  If the client was to claim a partial refund this would not cover the expenses to allow the consumer to seek additional medical help. The consumer would be better off relying on the common law, where they would be able to claim more for the incident, by suing for negligence and malpractice.  In the mental healthcare although nothing concrete has been written one would think that the same would apply, thus not changing the legal umbrella that we are currently under. http://www.sajbl.org.za/index.php/sajbl/article/viewFile/62/48 http://proffessa.co.za/articles/how-will-the-new-consumer-protection-act-affect-your-medical-practice/

In conjunction with the above, it has been determined by the minister that the consumer protection act is applicable only to those companies that are above the threshold of two million annual turnovers.  This means that the smaller practices are not affected by the new consumer protection act. http://www.polity.org.za/article/consumer-protection-act-682008-determination-of-threshold-in-terms-of-the-act-gazette-no-34181-notice-294-2011-04-01 . http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/32645_n294.pdf  

The fear of having an increase in litigation, in medical practices due to this new act is unfounded.  If the client decides to use the consumer protection act the medical practice would need to have an annual turnover of above two million rand for the act to apply. Resulting in only the bigger practices being affected by it; however consumers are more likely to sue for negligence and malpractice (in the common law) than the new consumer protection act.

For more information about relevant issues in psychology see www.traumatrainingonline.com