"Mental ramifications. Anywhere from medication, extreme confusion and depression to paranoia and, in the extreme case, institutionalization." Padma felt that her knowledge of what had happened to her helped alleviate some of the more dire ramifications in her case. She couldn't imagine knowing she was missing memories and not knowing why, or what obliviation was. "With Muggles, it's key to replace the removed memories with false memories. Otherwise, the mind become desperate trying to fill the gaps." Padma tried her best to explain what she had read so far.
"Usually a good Obliviator will help the mind connect the edges of the gaps around the missing memories, giving the mind some idea of what had happened, though it remains a bit fuzzy. If the Obliviator doesn't help the mind supply itself with an answer, the person tries to figure it out themselves, and end up causing more trauma to their minds in their attempts to connect the dots—especially if they are trying too hard to recall the lost memories while their brains are healing from the Obliviation." Even a good, easy obliviation was the removal of memory and had to heal. Padma worried at what damage might have been done to her mind during the interrogation.
"It's all rather interesting," she said, trying to be conversational, casually dismissive of the topic as not directly personal to her, but her fingers clenched around her tea mug in a way that belied her true feelings on that matter. Her white knuckles showed how clearly personal the subject was to her.