People were shaken up by those tragic events. And the more sensitive people were shocked even more. At the moment we are taking care of three such patients in the men's department which I direct in the Vilnius psychiatric hospital. Their conditions are gradually improving.
One of them was by the television tower that night. He says that he had to take an injured woman to the hospital in his car. That shook him up so much that his psychic balance was disturbed and we had to hospitalize him.
Another patient was away with his wife in the district of Klaipeda that night, while his children were with their grandparents. When he heard what had happened, he returned to Vilnius at 140 km/hr. He was under such stress that his nervous system became unbalanced.
The third patient was at Parliament for many nights, and the events at the TV tower shook him up. They all started having hallucinations.
Some of our former patients who had undergone treatment 10 or more years ago were also affected by the events that night. Two of them were hospitalized again in our department, when their illnesses took a turn for the worse. We're happy that they feel better now.
I'm afraid that if the violence continues it might really harm the psychological state of many people. A lot of people are having sleeping problems, they suffer from fear, restlessness, and depression. Since then we all think every little noise is a gun shot.
Lithuania, 1991.01.13 : documents, testimonies, comments. - Vilnius : State Publishing Center, 1992, p. 195.