Long Term Effects Of Child Sexual Abuse

Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

Jadine Pecora

CUNY College of Staten Island Treatment of Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse

Going through any type of sexual abuse can be disheartening and leave eternal effects on any human being; but going through intrafamilial sexual abuse can leave even more trauma. Family is supposed to be people surrounding you who love for, care for, and protect you from all danger. So when the people who are supposed to protect you are really the ones who abuse you and traumatize you, what do you do then? It’s not an easy question to answer, and those who go through it are not very open to discussion about it; therefor it can be extremely difficult to cope with and grow past. When thinking about child sexual abuse,

Because child sexual abuse is such an awful thing that can be embarrassing to admit, many people may leave their traumatizing experience bottled up inside their head and refuse to get treatment in efforts to keep the memory a secret. Keeping events like this bottled up inside can cause a person to go crazy, which can lead to horrible actions, such as suicide. There is a strong correlation between child sexual abuse and suicide attempts, because an event like this can be difficult to overcome. Women with a history of CSA [child sexual abuse] who attempt suicide are disproportionately vulnerable to repeated suicidal behavior as compared to women without a history of CSA (Daray, 2016). If women who have been through child sexual abuse are only trying to solve their issues by ending their lives, there needs to be a better way to let these women know that there are better ways to cope with trauma then resorting to ending their lives. In Australia, 42% female patients were admitted into hospitals for suicide attempts that have experienced child sexual abuse (Daray, 2016). These are extremely high rates, and these are only the people that we are aware about, or that did not have successful suicide attempts. Another effect that child sexual abuse can have on a victim is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is in fact the most common and pervasive condition that people with this sort of trauma get diagnosed with, or found dealing with later on in life. And although there are treatments for PTSD, this will not negate all memories from a patient’s mind about the traumatic event, especially if the child sexual abuse was intrafamilial. Intrafamilial sexual abuse tends to be harder on the victim because it then causes them to lack relationship development with their family, because family should be the givers and protectors of the relationship, they should not harm and deprive their children or family members from