CLINICAL EXAMPLE OF HYPERVIGILANCE:

Maria was only 15 when she was attacked by a group of men on the way home from school. They took turns screaming abusive, vulgar words at her and then each took turns to rape her. Finally, they tried to stab her to death and would almost certainly have succeeded had the police not arrived on the scene. For months after this horrifying event, she was in a state of constant alertness and fright against anything reminiscent of that night. She would relentlessly be vigilant against the slightest sign of danger and excessively reactive to sights, sounds, people, smells, behaviors or anything else that had a similarity to the event.

Now, if for example Maria was let’s say, waiting at the bus stop. She observed in her peripheral vision a robust man rushing towards her, speaking inaudible words, feeling intense fear and perceiving there is imminent danger upon her, she takes out her pocket knife and stabs him. It turns out it was the town drunkard who merely wanted to ask for change. If Maria pleads mistake of fact in the context of self-defense, she would necessarily fail because based on our Revised Penal Code and our existing jurisprudence, as gleaned from the facts of the case, her mistaken belief of the imminence of the unlawful aggression and the means she resorted to are objectively “unreasonable”.

CLINICAL EXAMPLE OF DISSOCIATIVE FLASHBACK:

Joe was engaged in active combat during his time in the military. Some incidents in particular had never left his mind – like the horrifying sight of Gary, a close comrade and friend, being blown-up by a landmine. Even when he returned to civilian life, these images haunted him. Scenes from battle would run repeatedly through his mind and disrupt his focus on work when faced with reminders of the trauma. Filing up at the gas station, for example, the smell of diesel immediately rekindled certain horrific memories and he would have vivid, waking flashbacks of being in combat. When he heard loud noises, he literally jumped, as if he were readying himself for combat.

Now, if for example, Joe upon hearing the sound of fireworks – and Joe associates this with the sound of crossfire during combat, he undergoes a dissociative flashback – although he does not entirely lose awareness, he finds himself acting reflexively, takes out his gun as he would do in combat and shoots at the people on the street. If Joe pleads insanity because of the complete absence of control over his actions, then his defense would necessarily fail because our jurisdiction adheres to the doctrine that it is the complete deprivation of intelligence that will support a defense of insanity.