Mental scars of armed robbery victims

From Page 1

“As I got closer to the branch, there was commotion outside with people screaming, some lying down. I then spotted the unregistered Honda Fit taking off at high speed and realised it was a robbery,” she narrated. She collected her money a week later.

Following an increase in armed robbery cases, President Mnangagwa granted an Amnesty to all members of the public in possession of unregistered firearms and ammunition to surrender them to the police

The amnesty which came into force on August 8, ended on Friday.

As of 19 September, police said the number of firearms voluntarily surrendered to the police during the operation termed, “Firearms Amnesty,” stood at 455 and 260 rounds of ammunition.

Local psychologist, Miss Jacqueline Nkomo said with the rise in armed robberies, there is urgent need for financial services to have counselling departments that cater for robbery victims.

She noted that in some instances if robbery victims do not undergo counselling sessions, some might develop panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

PTSD is a mental health condition that develops following a traumatic event, it is characterised by intrusive thoughts about the incident, recurrent distress/ anxiety, flashback and avoidance of similar situations.

“There is a need for banks and money agencies and any other company to have a counselling department in their business set up where someone can go and vent out what they are going through. We become reactive rather than being proactive.

“Business premises are like home away from home and when you get attacked at work, what are the chances of you going back to the same place the following day? It’s a difficult thing. If the companies really care about their employees and clients they will offer counselling services. As much as people might think this is a light matter, there are chances that victims can develop PTSD, insomnia and panic attacks,” said Miss Nkomo.

She said forexample when a teller is attacked and reports for duty the following day, sits at the same counter where a gun was pointed at, whether it was a toy gun or water gun, that incident will keep on playing in his or her mind.

“Unless they open up about it, in some cases it’s a challenge to get over the incident. They keep looking over their shoulder thinking the incident will happen all over again. The incident might lead to mild or chronic depression, struggling to focus at work with some resorting to drugs and substance abuse. If employers really care about their workers welfare, there is a need to take the victims for counselling. Some clients might develop panic attacks,” said Miss Nkomo. –@ nqobilebhebhe