3 Long-term Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse

An adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse needs to have a clear understanding of the long-term effects of such abuse so that they can seek out the help they need. Counseling in Orlando is available for people who have experienced sexual abuse and are at increased risk for various psychological issues, some of which manifest in physical ways. In addition, childhood sexual abuse carries emotional trauma that can harm a person long into adulthood. The American Counseling Association (ACA) reports that children who have experienced sexual abuse are at increased risk for the following:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Sexual abuse survivors might act out by being cruel or withdrawing from others, internalizing the abuse, committing self-harm, or committing suicide. Thoughts of suicide, depression, and anxiety are common long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse, causing them also strongly to correlate with PTSD. However, the American Counseling Association (ACA) focuses more on a subset of PTSD effects, known as dissociative behavior.

Dissociation serves as a child sexual abuse victim's most natural defense against severe trauma. Survivors who suffer from dissociative behavior often engage in depersonalization and derealization, feelings that the world and oneself are not real. When child sexual abuse victims suffer ongoing abuse, they often dissociate from themselves and the world around them to avoid connecting with the emotional and physical pain of the abuse they have endured.

Dissociation can include feelings of confusion or disorientation, nightmares, flashbacks of the abuse, and lack of emotion. Dissociation is also what causes adult survivors to deny and repress the abuse. This explains why some abuse survivors don’t recall their abuse until much later in life.

Eating Disorders

Purging, binging, and restricting food consumption can reduce or numb feelings of shame and depression. This can sometimes motivate survivors to self-medicate with food. In other cases, abuse victims engage in these behaviors to punish the body that failed to protect them from being abused. Starving oneself gives the survivor control over their body and substitutes feelings of powerlessness that stem from the abuse they have endured.

The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) estimates that around 30 percent of people with eating disorders are survivors of sexual abuse, likely because the abuse has a drastic impact on body image. Although anorexia can affect those who have suffered sexual abuse, bulimia is more frequent. Binging and purging may temporarily reduce thoughts and emotions related to the trauma of sexual abuse, such as stress, anger, and guilt. It is also a way for victims to deal with a need for predictability, personal space, and control.

Suicide

Individuals who have experienced sexual abuse are at an increased risk for suicide. Thoughts of suicide are often linked with anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. When adult survivors of sexual abuse
often feel worthless and have low-self esteem. They may begin to withdraw, and continued feelings of worthlessness can lead to suicide. In addition, victims feel powerless because they did not stop the manipulation and coercion that allowed them to be violated.

These long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse are only the beginning of the trauma's impression on a survivor. Let’s Talk Counseling LLC specializes in counseling in Orlando related to adult survivors of sexual abuse.