The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

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The PAVE Project Report
Other psychological effects, such as insomnia, weight fluctuation, hopelessness,
tension, and depression, were also illustrated in the interviews:
“I had, I never slept, I was scared to sleep. Then, if I did finally get asleep, the
least wee noise, and I was up. Because you didn’t know what the noise was, who it
was, where it was coming from. And, in the end, my doctor put me on antidepressants.”
(Interviewee A)
“Nightmares. Er… Feelings of hopelessness, er… deep tension, er… not very willing
to go out into crowds of people that I don’t know. You are looking always over your
shoulder. You wish you had been born with wing mirrors on each shoulder that you
wouldn’t have to turn round.” (Interviewee M)
“I put on an awful lot of weight and I got very depressed, which I didn’t see. I, you
know, the whole time I says, ‘No, I’m fine, no, no, I’m fine, I’ll just get over that’.”
(Interviewee P)
Interviewees explained how the impact of violence changed lives, truncated
education, and altered career paths. Interviewee N’s father was shot when she was just
entering secondary education, affecting her psychologically as well as educationally.
She decided to attend adult education courses offered by the victims group to catch
up:
“I’m doing ‘Essential Skills’ course at the minute. … . A lad came in and asked us if
we were interested in, and of course I would because my education was, you know,
affected or whatever… by the Troubles. I’m starting to get…, hopefully, to get
brainier (laughs).”