The scars of sexual abuse run much deeper than physical, they can have profound effects on the emotional and mental health of the survivor. And while physical wounds heal over the passage of time, the traumatic memories of the abuse can be so overwhelming as to keep the survivor from leading a normal life, or relationship.
Each individual responds to the abuse in their own way, there is no standardized parameter to measure the intensity of the hurting that the person is going through on a personal level. Some of the most common psychological problems that sexual abuse survivors go through include depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, suicidal thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, self-harming tendency, dissociation from reality, eating and sleep disorders, substance abuse, etc.
On emotional front, survivors may feel a build-up of feelings of anger, self-blame, fear, helplessness, embarrassment and anxiety.
Sexual abuse can take many forms, read about it here:
https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/sexual-abuse
Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse endured in childhood can have devastating effects in the adulthood for the survivors. Often abused by someone they know, the survivors may face various short-term as well as long-term effects as a result of the abuse. They could feel guilty and ashamed of the abuse that happened to them, struggle with intimacy in relationships and suffer from low self-esteem.
The reason why effects of child sexual abuse continue to the adulthood is because the survivor has been living with the abuse memories for many years now. There is a chance that they’ve never even opened up about it to anyone, which may mean that the abuse had continued for a long time before ending. Or maybe they did confide in someone about the matter but were met with dismissal. In either case, the survivors were left alone to deal with sexual abuse in their childhood, never receiving the support, care and love needed to deal with the abuse then.
AOYL provides processes for a safe environment to turn over the dark stones, to in part process and take inventory of the elements that effect your mindset, and safely explore your own solutions of putting this behind as you move forward in life and relationships.
Helpful links for victims of sexual abuse:
https://www.rainn.org/
https://www.rainn.org/national-resources-sexual-assault-survivors-and-their-loved-ones
