COUNSELLING FOR OMAGH RELATIVES WAS WASTE OF TIME
Counselling for Omagh relatives 'was waste of time'
BY ALAN ERWIN
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
COUNSELLING offered to those suffering post-traumatic stress after the Omagh bomb atrocity was a "complete waste of time", a top psychiatrist has claimed.
Dr Nicholas Cooling dismissed its value to victims' relatives plunged into major depression as he yesterday gave evidence at the High Court civil case against five men blamed for the attack which killed 29 people and unborn twins.
During cross-examination by Dermot Fee QC, appearing for defendants Seamus Daly and Colm Murphy, the consultant psychiatrist said those he saw following the August 1998 terrorist strike underwent something more serious than bereavement and adjustment disorder.
He contested Mr Fee's assertion that relatives who did not take counselling would have benefited from it, pointing instead to psychotherapy intervention and anti-depressants as more effective treatments.
Dr Cooling told the hearing in Belfast: "Counselling would make absolutely no difference to someone who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) or clinical depression."
He said: "Counselling is a complete waste of time. Unfortunately in this case a lot of people had counselling with the expectation it might do something and it didn't."
Challenged by Mr Fee to explain why the National Institute for Clinical Excellence described it as an appropriate service for depression, he claimed it was not scientifically proven.
"For people with major depression counselling is useless, it's of no value," he said.
Dr Cooling compiled assessments of the emotional and mental toll on victims' families who are taking the multi-million pound lawsuit against Daly, Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus McKenna. All five men deny responsibility for the dissident republican outrage.
Earlier the expert, who has also prepared reports on those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, told the court that watching television news reports on the day of the Omagh bombing contributed to the PTSD suffered by one victim's sister.
Dealing with Cathy Gallagher, whose brother Aiden died in the blast, Mr Fee said one category for a post-traumatic stress sufferer involved reliving "horrendous and dangerous events".
Pointing out that Ms Gallagher was not at the scene when the bomb exploded, he asked: "How then does she satisfy the criteria of reliving the event?"
Dr Cooling told him it was due to her total experience. He said that Ms Gallagher told him that as she watched the Sky reports of the bombing, she had become "progressively more upset about what she was seeing".
The hearing continues.
BY ALAN ERWIN
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
COUNSELLING offered to those suffering post-traumatic stress after the Omagh bomb atrocity was a "complete waste of time", a top psychiatrist has claimed.
Dr Nicholas Cooling dismissed its value to victims' relatives plunged into major depression as he yesterday gave evidence at the High Court civil case against five men blamed for the attack which killed 29 people and unborn twins.
During cross-examination by Dermot Fee QC, appearing for defendants Seamus Daly and Colm Murphy, the consultant psychiatrist said those he saw following the August 1998 terrorist strike underwent something more serious than bereavement and adjustment disorder.
He contested Mr Fee's assertion that relatives who did not take counselling would have benefited from it, pointing instead to psychotherapy intervention and anti-depressants as more effective treatments.
Dr Cooling told the hearing in Belfast: "Counselling would make absolutely no difference to someone who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) or clinical depression."
He said: "Counselling is a complete waste of time. Unfortunately in this case a lot of people had counselling with the expectation it might do something and it didn't."
Challenged by Mr Fee to explain why the National Institute for Clinical Excellence described it as an appropriate service for depression, he claimed it was not scientifically proven.
"For people with major depression counselling is useless, it's of no value," he said.
Dr Cooling compiled assessments of the emotional and mental toll on victims' families who are taking the multi-million pound lawsuit against Daly, Murphy, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus McKenna. All five men deny responsibility for the dissident republican outrage.
Earlier the expert, who has also prepared reports on those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, told the court that watching television news reports on the day of the Omagh bombing contributed to the PTSD suffered by one victim's sister.
Dealing with Cathy Gallagher, whose brother Aiden died in the blast, Mr Fee said one category for a post-traumatic stress sufferer involved reliving "horrendous and dangerous events".
Pointing out that Ms Gallagher was not at the scene when the bomb exploded, he asked: "How then does she satisfy the criteria of reliving the event?"
Dr Cooling told him it was due to her total experience. He said that Ms Gallagher told him that as she watched the Sky reports of the bombing, she had become "progressively more upset about what she was seeing".
The hearing continues.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/787
Published Date: 18-Oct-08
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