All immigrants have some difficulty adjusting to a new culture, but some of William Gorman’s clients have a harder time than most. Gorman is a UIC psychologist who works with victims of torture. Gorman’s clients often develop problems with substance abuse, have trouble trusting people, and even suffer from guilt for surviving at all. “The psychological consequences of torture compound the damage of the physical torture,” Gorman says. Torture victims can also run into legal problems arising from their emotional ones. They often become numb, describing what has happened to them without any apparent feeling. Says Gorman, “In asylum cases, this can lead a judge to doubt the veracity of a report.”
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Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Nathan Mandell.
