00:00Clinical psychologist Dr. Victoria Sunarain Jalal Singh says,
00:05the family is now navigating intense emotional distress
00:09as they struggle to process the circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance
00:14and the ongoing uncertainty over closure.
00:17She adds that finding out what really happened and locating the child
00:22remains a critical part of the grieving process,
00:25particularly in cases where the finality of loss has not yet been fully established.
00:32It speaks to not only the level of distress, the trauma and grief that a family is experiencing,
00:39but also the community and both islands as well.
00:44And for someone to say something like that, you know,
00:47different people grieve differently and process differently,
00:50but there is a sense of closure that comes when you know.
00:53So, there is something that the knowing gives you.
00:57The clinical psychologist also warns that if the child's body is recovered,
01:03any eventual viewing could carry significant psychological impact for grieving relatives.
01:08And she is calling for caution in how the case is handled in public spaces.
01:14If the body is found, we can imagine on how the body might look.
01:21And I'm not sure that seeing it, because you don't ever forget your traumas.
01:26So, it is something that may be haunting.
01:29I would like to use this opportunity to ask the media to be compassionate,
01:34if that is the case,
01:37not to disseminate too much of people's grief,
01:41too much of their private moments,
01:42and to allow them that space to be vulnerable.
01:47Dr. Jilal Singh tells The Morning Edition that individuals respond differently to trauma
01:53and says it is important not to generalize reactions in such a complex and emotionally charged case.
02:01Maybe these persons felt hopeless, maybe they couldn't cope,
02:05maybe they lashed out, they had challenges regulating their emotions.
02:09We don't know.
02:10We can't speak to what exactly happened,
02:13and I'm not in any way at all making an excuse for what might have happened.
02:18But what I'm saying is for it to happen,
02:20there has to be some kind of negligence and care that would have taken place.
02:25Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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