A Specialist in child abuse told the High Court yesterday that she regarded a Co Sligo woman who was severely physically and sexually abused by her father as a most impressive person with a lot of insight into her situation.
Dr Alice Swann said she had nevertheless diagnosed Ms Sophia McColgan as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was the result of the serious physical and sexual abuse she suffered.
She said Ms McColgan had a marked dissociative element in her behaviour and suffered from marked cognitive disorder.
Dr Swann, who interviewed Sophia for 2 1/4 hours last week, resumed her evidence yesterday, the 11th day of the hearing before Mr Justice Johnson.
Ms McColgan (27), her sister Michelle and brothers Gerard and Keith, all formerly of Ballinacarrow, Ballymote, Co Sligo, are suing the North Western Health Board and Dr Desmond Moran of Stephen Street, Sligo.
The McColgans were severely sexually and physically abused over a prolonged period by their father, Joseph. He is serving a 12year sentence having pleaded guilty to a number of charges.
Dr Swann said yesterday she was very impressed by the young woman. The post-traumatic stress disorder from which she was suffering had been present for several years.
Ms McColgan's decision not to disclose the abuse suffered at the hands of her father until she had completed her degree in Sligo RTC was not objectively a rational decision, she said. But from Sophia's perspective it was rational.
The witness said that Sophia believed that getting an education and a good degree would make her stronger and put her in a position where she would be able to disclose what had happened to her and be believed.
Getting an education before disclosing was a goal Sophia had set for herself, Dr Swann said. That goal was perfectly understandable from Sophia's perspective.
Dr Swann said the abuse suffered by Sophia as a child made it extremely difficult for her to cope with any of the crises of adulthood.
She had marked cognitive disorder which was illustrated by her self-blame for what had happened to her and her family. She had a sense of responsibility related to the abuse inflicted on herself and her family.
Her sense of the world was that it was a very unsafe, malevolent place.
But, Dr Swann told the court, Sophia had shown some improvement and she would be positive about her eventually recovering from her trauma. She would, however, need several years of intensive therapy.
Dr Swann said Sophia did not find it easy to study because of having post-traumatic stress disorder. She felt she had to study three times as hard as anybody else.
Cross-examined by Mr John Rogers SC, for the health board, Dr Swann agreed she was neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. That did not preclude her from making a diagnosis of PTSD such as she had done in this and other cases, she said.
In 1984, formal training in the diagnosis and assessment of child sex abuse was only just beginning, Dr Swann said. Because of what had happened to her, Sophia was incapable of managing her own affairs in certain aspects of life.
Mr Paul Gilligan, a clinical psychologist and director of services with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was then recalled to the witness stand. Discussions took place between counsel for both sides and the judge on what documents the witness might refer to in his further evidence.
Mr Rogers said the plaintiffs had to prove every document, otherwise they could not make a case. Evidence would have to be given to prove the truthfulness of documents tendered.
He was not engaged in a tactical game but was anxious only to ensure that all the evidence before the court was presented in a proper way, counsel said.
He submitted that the evidence Mr Gilligan was about to give was not admissible because it was based on documents that had not been proved in a comprehensive way.
Mr Justice Johnson said he would regard all documents handed into the court up to the eighth day of the trial, and to which neither side had taken objection, as having been proved.
The hearing resumes today.