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In nearly all the cases, the adults I questioned had not experienced the abuse as traumatic when it occurred and only came to regard it as so years later.
The Trauma Myth: Understanding the True Dynamics of Sexual Abuse
Seeded on Wed Jul 7, 2010 12:36 PM EDT
Article Source: AlterNet.org- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (10)
Certainly we have advanced to the point that the right things are being said (sexual abuse is common and harmful; it is never the child's fault). Funding in the trauma field has been secured, research conducted, studies and books published, treatment centers established, and public awareness raised through sex-education programs and campaigns in the media. But is any of it translating into actual progress for victims? Do they feel that they're being helped, that they're understood and their needs are being served effectively?
- 4 votes
#1 - Wed Jul 7, 2010 12:37 PM EDTIncredibly great seed Loretta! While I was reading it, on one hand I was hooked and on the other hand I couldn't help thinking....you mean they're just now catching on??! I'm so glad the concept is getting out there...perhaps services will become more useful from it. I'm just amazed it took so long to figure this out. As the article mentions in the beginning...it is something most victims already know on some level. I suspect it doesn't occur to a lot of victims to place any real significance to it enough to speak up about it.
- 3 votes
#3 - Wed Jul 7, 2010 2:13 PM EDTGood points. One point she made that I would disagree with. I've been in two major earthquakes. She tried to differentiate them by saying the trauma happens immediately. Well, the physical stuff does, but the emotional stuff compounds later. So perhaps we need to look at trauma in general as changing over time.
But I heartily agree with her assessment that some of the worst sexual abuse trauma begins when innocence leaves. It is at that point that the feelings of betrayal set in. It is the betrayal that strikes deepest, IMO
- 4 votes
As a kid you don't at all understand the full ramifications. At a very young age, you don't normally have a real understanding of the complexities of sex. You certainly don't have a grasp of the magnitude of the betrayal. As the article mentions you realize on some level that it isn't something to tell anyone about and something's not quite right with it but that's about it.
I would have to agree that this type of trauma is unique from other types in how and when it affects us. The earthquake does cause trauma right away but of course the effects last much longer than the quake. There is probably some delayed effect from simply doing what has to be done when it first hits, and then later, when all is confirmed safe, falling apart. I know I do that with pretty much any sort of emergency.
It was cool reading this though in that I've never conceptualized it or even given it any thought before.
- 5 votes
How would a stranger know anything happened to them as a child? The person must already be talking about it for anyone to know. If they are already talking about it, that means it is already bothering them.
If you read the article, they decide it for themselves as they learn what sex is and the parameters we should follow when we are having sex. Since every new generation learns sex with children is not right -- as they should -- the former child victim is going to learn that even if no one ever knows they've suffered from sexual assaults or rape as a child.
It is inevitable, no matter if they discuss it, stay silent or someone else tries to impose their ideas on the victim who is now older.
- 3 votes
Spot on Loretta. :) I can't think of a thing to add to that.
- 1 vote
This is an interesting article, though not new news to anyone who has had a family member who has been sexually abused. The victims themselves often do not realize what effect the abuse has had on them until many years later, but family members and others close to them do. The stress childhood sexual abuse places on families can be very destructive.
- 6 votes
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