Trauma and abuse are different for each person; trauma and abuse are perceptional. Two people experiencing the same event may not perceive it to be traumatic. Peter A. Levine in “Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes“, reminds us that trauma is in the nervous system – not the event! “Trauma happens when any experience stuns us like a bolt out of the blue; it overwhelms us, leaving us altered and disconnected from our bodies. Any coping mechanisms we may have had are undermined, and we fell utterly helpless and hopeless. It is as if our legs are knocked out from under us.”
EFFECTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT MAY EXPERIENCE SEVERE FEELINGS OF ANXIETY, STRESS OR FEAR, KNOWN AS POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD), AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE ASSAULT.
VICTIMS OF RAPE OR SEXUAL ASSAULT MAY TURN TO ALCOHOL OR OTHER SUBSTANCES IN AN ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE THEIR EMOTIONAL SUFFERING.
DELIBERATE SELF-HARM, OR SELF-INJURY, IS WHEN A PERSON INFLICTS PHYSICAL HARM ON HIMSELF OR HERSELF.
DESCRIBED AS A VICTIM’S EMOTIONAL “BONDING” WITH THEIR ABUSER, STOCKHOLM SYNDROME DEVELOPS SUBCONSCIOUSLY AND ON AN INVOLUNTARY BASIS.
THERE ARE MANY EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REACTIONS THAT VICTIMS OF RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT CAN EXPERIENCE. ONE OF THE MOST COMMON OF THESE IS DEPRESSION.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
TABLE OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS, THEIR SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT, AND POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS.
IF YOU WERE RECENTLY RAPED, YOU MAY HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT BECOMING PREGNANT FROM THE ATTACK. IF THE RAPE HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO, YOU MAY HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT A PREGNANCY THAT RESULTED FROM THE ATTACK.
A FLASHBACK IS WHEN MEMORIES OF PAST TRAUMAS FEEL AS IF THEY ARE TAKING PLACE IN THE CURRENT MOMENT.
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER, KNOWN AS BPD, IS ONE OF MANY POSSIBLE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE.
ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT
THE LONG TERM EFFECTS ON SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT AND/OR ABUSE.
MANY SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SUFFER FROM SLEEP DISTURBANCES AND DISORDERS.
VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS WITH EATING DISORDERS OFTEN USE FOOD AND THE CONTROL OF FOOD AS AN ATTEMPT TO DEAL WITH OR COMPENSATE FOR NEGATIVE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS.
BODY MEMORIES ARE WHEN THE STRESS OF THE MEMORIES OF THE ABUSE EXPERIENCED BY AN INDIVIDUAL TAKE THE FORM OF PHYSICAL PROBLEMS THAT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED BY THE USUAL MEANS.
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER (DID), PREVIOUSLY REFERRED TO AS MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER (MPD), IS A DISSOCIATIVE DISORDER IN WHICH TWO OR MORE SEPARATE AND DISTINCT IDENTITIES (OR PERSONALITIES) CONTROL AN INDIVIDUAL’S BEHAVIOR AT DIFFERENT TIMES.
IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY THINKING ABOUT SUICIDE, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS, PLEASE REACH OUT FOR HELP.
MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA (MST) IS A TECHNICAL TERM THAT REFERS TO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA EXPERIENCED BY MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS, AS A RESULT OF SEXUAL ASSAULT OR SEXUAL HARASSMENT, AS CLASSIFIED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE
SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE EXPERIENCE AN ARRAY OF OVERWHELMING AND INTENSE FEELINGS. THESE MAY INCLUDE FEELINGS OF FEAR, GUILT, AND SHAME.
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