Victoria Hamer - Mental Health
No one, at anytime, has asked or considered the mental health of Lorraine’s family; disgraceful.
There is a suggestion that Ms Hamer was, or is, either suffering from PTSD or showing signs of PTSD. In fact, there was a great deal of time spent on Ms Hamer’s mental health but very little, if any, spent on the mental health of the victim’s family.
What follows my conclusion regarding Ms Hamer mental health is statements, explanations, and descriptions made by National Institute for Mental Health, MIND, and The Trauma Practice.
My brother Lorraine’s brother-in-law Jonathan Barrow BSc, ACMI, Chairman of Sociability. Sociability provides a wide variety of structured activities for people who endure mental health issues.
Sociability is a fully registered charity 1166862 with the charity commission for England and Wales.
I am not from a legal background but I am from a mental health background. I started a charity to support people 8 years ago. Now funded by the NHS we see hundreds of people from a diversity of backgrounds, all with a wide variety of mental health issues. As you can imagine I speak to a great deal of people from all walks. And interpretation is something I deal with every day, sadly, having a mental health issue has become a very real and often debilitating condition, though, it also provides an invisible explanation for everything from welfare benefits to criminal acts. There are often signs which do not fit the profile of someone with a particular mental health condition. And though you quite rightly say, we are never in a position to make this type of suggestion. We are permitted to offer our interpretation. I provide my interpretation having achieved a degree along with many years of lived experience, I also employ a lady who came to us with 30 plus years of knowledge and experience with organisation Rethink Mental illness, along with an extremely knowledgeable psychotherapist and two other people with a history of lived experience. So, it is always interesting to hear the views of people who are providing their interpretation of someone’s mental wellbeing with little to no experience. All we have in these situations are the actions and words of an individual. The only person who is in a position to provide a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) would be a psychiatrist, I was not aware of a psychiatrist report, was there one please? No other person can suggest this, other than by way of their opinion. Therefore, while we are on opinions, my team and myself are yet to meet a person diagnosed with PTSD or suffering the symptoms of PTSD who could revisit any close correlation to an event which led to their symptoms. Let alone a person who killed another person, that could get back into a car within a couple of weeks, go to their place of work which they were traveling from, deal with people experiencing loss of loved pets, opposite the place where the person who they killed worked. In our experience of many years, the slightest correlation to an event causes extremely traumatic symptoms. With all due respect I can honestly say that we are talking about extremely loosely connected interpretations, most certainly not driving after a road death. This is something which could and should have been investigated, not least the fact that Hamer stopped her only form of therapy due to it being too stressful! Also, a first, and a contradiction in itself! Did anyone ask my brother how his mental health was? My brother began receiving therapy shortly after he lost Lorraine, my brother is still receiving therapy, my brother is yet to make enough significant progress to stop, nor has the stress felt ever made him feel like he should stop for the sake of his mental wellbeing.
Jonathan Barrow BSc, ACMI, Chairman of Sociability,
Sociability is a fully registered charity 1166862 with the charity commission for England and Wales
Conclusion relating to mental health issues
We know Ms Hamer continued to drive because at the pre-trial Ms Hamer was not banned from driving immediately, her barrister argued that she had been driving for the past 12 months without further offence. I would suggest this is supposition as it is impossible to tell. Ms Hamer may well have driven for 12 months but you cannot say that she had not driven carelessly, dangerously, above the speed limit or safely all you can say is that she drove for 12 months without being observed breaking the law. At the time it was even argued that Ms Hamer needed to drive for her work as a veterinary nurse confirming she was working.
During the 12 months after the incident Ms Hamer whilst apparently suffering with so much trauma, PTSD, and mental anguish how was it that she felt able to, let alone actually do, get behind the wheel of a car and drive every day. Surely entering a car would have caused so much anxiety and stress she would have been unable to get in a car let alone drive, but she did, suggesting if not proving the lack of PTSD symptoms among other mental health issues.
As you can see it is difficult to see how someone suffering from these awful symptoms could perform a role as a veterinary nurse. It should have also been questioned as to the responsibility of an employer to have a person with such symptoms on site, the symptoms would suggest someone who is, clearly, a risk to themselves and others. If Ms Hamer was suffering from PTSD or the symptoms of PTSD or with the number of mental issues described in court, should she have been allowed to drive let alone work as a veterinary nurse who would have access to drugs and medical instruments that could cause a great deal of harm to herself and others.
National Institute for Mental Health
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Overview
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.
It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to help defend against danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a typical reaction meant to protect a person from harm. Nearly everyone will experience a range of reactions after trauma, yet most people recover from initial symptoms naturally. Those who continue to experience problems may be diagnosed with PTSD. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened, even when they are not in danger.
Signs and Symptoms
While most but not all traumatized people experience short term symptoms, the majority do not develop ongoing (chronic) PTSD. Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some experiences, like the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one, can also cause PTSD. Symptoms usually begin early, within 3 months of the traumatic incident, but sometimes they begin years afterward. Symptoms must last more than a month and be severe enough to interfere with relationships or work to be considered PTSD. The course of the illness varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others have symptoms that last much longer. In some people, the condition becomes chronic.
A doctor who has experience helping people with mental illnesses, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist, can diagnose PTSD.
To be diagnosed with PTSD, an adult must have all of the following for at least 1 month:
· At least one re-experiencing symptom
· At least one avoidance symptom
· At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms
· At least two cognition and mood symptoms
Re-experiencing symptoms include:
· Flashbacks—reliving the trauma over and over, including physical symptoms like a racing heart or sweating
· Bad dreams
· Frightening thoughts
Re-experiencing symptoms may cause problems in a person’s everyday routine. The symptoms can start from the person’s own thoughts and feelings. Words, objects, or situations that are reminders of the event can also trigger re-experiencing symptoms.
Avoidance symptoms include:
· Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the traumatic experience
· Avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event
Things that remind a person of the traumatic event can trigger avoidance symptoms. These symptoms may cause a person to change his or her personal routine. For example, after a bad car accident, a person who usually drives may avoid driving or riding in a car.
Arousal and reactivity symptoms include:
· Being easily startled
· Feeling tense or “on edge”
· Having difficulty sleeping
· Having angry outbursts
Arousal symptoms are usually constant, instead of being triggered by things that remind one of the traumatic events. These symptoms can make the person feel stressed and angry. They may make it hard to do daily tasks, such as sleeping, eating, or concentrating.
Cognition and mood symptoms include:
· Trouble remembering key features of the traumatic event
· Negative thoughts about oneself or the world
· Distorted feelings like guilt or blame
· Loss of interest in enjoyable activities
Cognition and mood symptoms can begin or worsen after the traumatic event, but are not due to injury or substance use. These symptoms can make the person feel alienated or detached from friends or family members.
Reference: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
The mental health charity “MIND” when describing how trauma can affect you states:
How else might trauma affect me?
The effects of trauma can last for a long time, or come and go. You might find you have difficulty with day-to-day aspects of your life, including:
· looking after yourself
· holding down a job
· trusting others
· maintaining friendships or relationships
· remembering things and making decisions
· your sex life
· coping with change
· simply enjoying your leisure time.
In some cases trauma can have a serious impact on your ability to work.
Now I ask you to examine PTSD Triggers as defined by The Trauma Practice:
How do we develop PTSD Triggers?
Trauma memories are encoded sensorially, not linguistically. This means that they are encoded through the senses. What does this mean? When we experience a trauma our brain attaches sensory experiences to the trauma memory. This means that when we experience a similar sensory stimulus again it can trigger PTSD symptoms. When we experience a similar sensory stimulus to one we experienced at the time of the trauma our brain tells our body that we are in danger. It is telling the body to mobilise the resources needed to either fight or flee the danger. PTSD triggers can include anything we experience through the senses of sight, smell, touch or taste. They might also include anything that reminds you of the trauma.
Examples of PTSD Triggers
PTSD triggers remind a person of the traumatic incident or incidents which they experienced. Examples therefore differ from person to person. Examples of PTSD triggers might include:
Smell: A specific smell can trigger trauma symptoms. For example if you experienced abuse by someone wearing a particular type of aftershave when you smell this type of aftershave again it could trigger traumatic symptoms.
Sounds: Hearing a sound which is similar to one associated with trauma can be triggering. An example might be a car backfiring. If you experienced trauma from combat a car backfiring might sound similar to a gun or military weapon. Being spoken to in a particular way with a particular tone can bring back trauma symptoms.
Situation: If you experienced repetitive trauma at a particular time of the day for example when the sun was going down this time of day can trigger trauma symptoms. If you experienced trauma in a busy place with lots of people entering a similar environment can trigger PTSD symptoms.
Taste: Eating or drinking something that you consumed at the time of a traumatic event can remind you of a traumatic event.
Words: Specific words or combinations of words can cue trauma type symptoms.
Media: We live in a media saturated world where we have access to hundreds of different types of media. Watching a news article where someone experiences a similar trauma to our own can trigger symptoms.
Reference: https://traumapractice.co.uk/ptsd-triggers/
What potential triggers could Ms Hamer suffer from?
Here are a few suggestions:
· Driving a car
· Being a passenger in a car
· Seeing a cyclist
· Overtaking a cyclist
· Driving or being driven pass the exact spot where Lorraine was killed
· Driving or being driven pass Lorraine’s home with the possibility of seeing Lorraine’s family in the garden or tending Lorraine’s roadside memorial
· Working less than a mile from where the incident took place
· Working in a location directly opposite the school where it is known Lorraine worked
· Working alongside the wife of Lorraine’s line manager
· Bright sunny days