What Must Have Happened to Make These
Children Feel So Bad?
This is what Child Sexual Abuse Looks Like
When I decided to check into the problem of child sexual abuse it was following several casual discussions I had with friends who themselves had experienced sexual abuse when they were children. There was no major “Ah, ha!” moment, no thundering epiphany since those discussions had occurred over the course of a year.
Once I was awakened to the topic I related those discussions to my connection with clients who had attended Dynamic Discovery workshops and found that the process allowed them to rather quickly deal with a problem that they had carried with them for years – many, many years in some cases.
By the way, most of those clients had abused medications, street drugs, and/or alcohol as they self-treated their symptomology. Few had ever voluntarily discussed being abused in childhood. There is a great deal of information and discussion the major concerning social problems and illnesses, but child sexual abuse may be the cause of many of those problems and illnesses.
The symptomology would suggest a strong (undeniable?) link to:
- depression
- self-harm
- memory gaps
- nightmares
- trouble sleeping
- panic attacks and anxiety
- drinking or drugging
- binge-eating and purging or starving
- fearing people and relationships
- feelings of self-hate and low self-esteem
- repeated experiences of sexual or physical violence
- feeling like you don’t want to live or you can’t go on with your life
The effects of child sexual abuse resemble post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, often manifesting as anxiety with a propensity to re-victimization in adulthood, and physical injury to the child.
Sexual abuse by a family member is a form of incest, and can result in more serious and long-term psychological trauma, especially in the case of parental incest.
Although there have been many studies and reports on this topic those studies and reports have not been effective in reducing the number of children assaulted every year, let alone protecting our children and eliminating this horribly damaging criminal behaviour.
The responsibility for the safety of children everywhere should rest on the shoulders of every adult everywhere… but things are seldom that simple and logical.
So what’s to be done? I recognize the problem, but I do not have a solution. Maybe you do. I would love to hear from anyone who has a practical and simplistic plan – and bleating, moaning and blaming do not constitute a plan… they are just a waste of time and air.
Grab Bob’s book if you or someone you know has suffered from Sexual Abuse Trauma and Recovery Guide for Victims of Sexual Abuse to get you started then pick up our workbook to help your recovery right from home!
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