TRAUMA & PTSD
Sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse can result in both short-term and long-term harm, including psychopathology in later life. Indicators and effects include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, poor self-esteem, somatization, sleep disturbances, and dissociative and anxiety disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder. While children may exhibit regressive behaviours such as thumb sucking or bedwetting, the strongest indicator of sexual abuse is sexual acting out and inappropriate sexual knowledge and interest. Victims may withdraw from school and social activities and exhibit various learning and behavioural problems including cruelty to animals, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Teenage pregnancy and risky sexual behaviours may appear in adolescence. Child sexual abuse victims report almost four times as many incidences of self-inflicted harm. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with increased likelihood of drug dependence, alcohol dependence, and psychiatric disorders.
Males who were sexually abused as children more frequently appear in the criminal justice system than in a clinical mental health setting. Intergenerational effects have been noted, with the children of victims of child sexual abuse exhibiting more conduct problems, peer problems, and emotional problems than their peers.
Child abuse, including sexual abuse, especially chronic abuse starting at early ages, has been found to be related to the development of high levels of dissociative symptoms, which includes amnesia for abuse memories.
Besides dissociative identity disorder (DID) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), child sexual abuse survivors may present borderline personality disorder (BPD) and eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa.
Adults with a history of sexual abuse often present for treatment with a secondary mental health issue, which can include substance abuse, eating disorders, personality disorders, depression, and conflict in romantic or interpersonal relationships.
Sexual abuse is associated with many sub-clinical behavioural issues as well, including re-victimization in the teenage years, a bipolar-like switching between sexual compulsion and shut-down, and distorted thinking on the subject of sexual abuse
Sexual assault
Female, male, gay or straight; victims of rape can be severely traumatized by the assault and may have difficulty functioning as well as they had been used to prior to the assault, with disruption of concentration, sleeping patterns and eating habits, for example. They may feel jumpy or be on edge. After being raped, it is common for the victim to experience acute stress disorder, including symptoms similar to those of posttraumatic stress disorder, such as intense, sometimes unpredictable emotions, and they may find it hard to deal with their memories of the event. In the months immediately following the assault, these problems may be severe and upsetting and may prevent the victim from revealing their ordeal to friends or family, or seeking police or medical assistance. Additional symptoms of acute stress disorder include:
Depersonalization or dissociation (feeling numb and detached, like being in a daze or a dream, or feeling that the world is strange and unreal)
Difficulty remembering important parts of the assault
Reliving the assault through repeated thoughts, memories, or nightmares
Avoidance of things, places, thoughts, and/or feelings that remind the victim of the assault
Anxiety or increased alertness (difficulty sleeping, concentrating, etc.)
Avoidance of social life or place of rape
For one-third to one-half of the victims, these symptoms continue beyond the first few months and meet the conditions for the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder. In general, rape and sexual assault are among the most common causes of PTSD in women.
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Trauma
We are social creatures. We started our life by living inside of someone else. We formed dependant relationships as children on people who we loved and trusted to have all the skills to keep us safe and have the best chance at life.
These early years of development form who we are today. From how we experience ourselves to how we create relationships and our general well-being and quality of life.
Healthy development can be interrupted on a scale from seemingly minor to severe events.
Any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and alone can be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm.
Childhood trauma results from anything that disrupts a child’s sense of safety and security, including:
Causes of emotional or psychological trauma
Any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and alone can be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm.
Your responses are NORMAL reactions to ABNORMAL events.
Emotional and psychological symptoms of trauma:
Unresolved childhood trauma can be seen in adults as