Admitting the need for help may also compound the survivor's sense of defeat. The therapists Inger Agger and Soren Jensen, who work with political refugees, describe the case of K, a torture survivor with severe post-traumatic symptoms who adamantly insisted that he had no psychological problems: K...did not understand why he was to talk with a therapist. His problems were medical: the reason why he did not sleep at night was due to the pain in his legs and feet. He was asked by the therapist...about his political background, and K told him that he was a Marxist and that he had read about Freud and he did not believe in any of that stuff: how could his pain go away by talking to a therapist?

~ Judith Lewis Herman

Judith Lewis Herman Abuse Survivors Denial Freud Healing Healing From Abuse Male Survivor Mental Disorder Mental Health Mental Illness Political Refugees Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Powerlessness Pride Psychoanalysis Psychology Psychotherapy Ptsd Self Stigma Sigmund Freud Stigma Therapy Torture Survivors Tortured Traumatic Experiences

...some patients resist the diagnosis of a post-traumatic disorder. They may feel stigmatized by any psychiatric diagnosis or wish to deny their condition out of a sense of pride. Some people feel that acknowledging psychological harm grants a moral victory to the perpetrator, in a way that acknowledging physical harm does not.

~ Judith Lewis Herman

Judith Lewis Herman Abuse Survivors Defeat Defeated Denial Healing Healing From Abuse Labeling Labelling Male Survivor Mental Disorder Mental Health Mental Health Stigma Mental Illness Political Refugees Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Powerlessness Prejudice Pride Psychotherapy Ptsd Recovery Self Stigma Stigma Therapy Torture Survivors Tortured Trauma Traumatic Experiences