Dr Lynne Jones An Apology

Contrary to last week’s review of Outside the

Asylum, Dr Lynne Jones did not say “we were wrong to protect the Tutsis” (headline and text) but rather “we were… wrong in our failure to protect the Rwandan Tutsis”. We were also wrong to suggest she “is sceptical about PTSD” and “claims that a quick dose of counselling at the right time can prevent long-term problems”.

As her book makes clear, Dr Jones accepts that PTSD exists but maintains the diagnosis has been used inappropriately. Nor is she in favour of psychological debriefing. She clearly states that “there are now clear WHO guidelines saying that this should not be done for everyone in the aftermath of a disaster, because at best it does nothing and at worst there is some evidence of harm”.

Finally, we wrongly said that Dr Jones witnessed a scene in East Africa where a woman made her baby inhale car fumes. In fact this was seen by a colleague. We apologise unreservedly to Dr Jones for the distress and embarrassment that these errors have caused.