what type of phycoloical damage would one suffer from if........?

Question

what type of phycological damage would someone suffer

from if as a child
of around 4/5 was sexually abused by someone in her family?

Answer 1

Wow - this one is a can of worms!

Okay - children of this age group are less able to manage stress than adults and the traumas they experience as a child sexual abuse victim usually are overwhelming to them.

The spectrum of psychological damage ranges widely from those who are apparently unharmed and mostly well adjusted all the way through to the children who become adults with severe illnesses such as multiple personality disorder, dissociative disorder, psychosis etc.

As children, this can manifest in odd and subtle ways. Children who become secretive or begin to be withdrawn, depressed, etc. Children with mysterious pains, particularly relating to the genital areas.

Those who reach adulthood are commonly people who manage reasonably well and adjust to life with a handful of ongoing issues such as:

low self esteem
eating disorders
problems with boundaries and attachments - classically girls who seek sex to replace love (and us boys, cos we like that sort of thing, do nothing to help or heal but usually perpetrate the cycle)

- borderline personality disorder is a common outcome in the survivors of child sexual abuse -

Some people get over it and adjust well. Other people, particularly those who have very traumatic experiences, have to use more desperate measures to cope and get on with life. This includes shutting the trauma away (cases have been reported where adolescents/adults have adopted completely different personas in response to a very stressful trauma and forgotten about their life, immersing themselves in their "new life" as a defence against the trauma). Multiple personality disorder (dissociative identity disorder) is a very extreme form of this last example.

Answer 2

Take this very seriously, as the damage could be significant. Many kinds of issues are possible: trust, closeness, helplessness (which could lead to depression) and many more. She could develop PTSD, behavior disorders and sometimes even multiple personality disorder and other disorders. Sometimes the results are less dramatic, you cannot know.

My advice is to seek professional help. There is a lot that can be done to help her if it is started right away. Beware that if you know of one incident of sexual abuse, there is likely to be more incidents that you are not aware of.

Seeking professional help is important. Prepare yourself for the possibility that the professional will probably be required to report this, if the child is in danger of more abuse. Prepare youself, but seek professional help anyway!

You might need support yourself, because families do not like their secrets exposed. So do the right thing, but get yourself support.

Best of luck.

Answer 3

It would depend on a lot of things. First does the child remember anything? They may suffer from intimacy issues, substance abuse, depression. It would also depend on the response from their care giver vs. who the abuser was (close relative- parent etc, boyfriend- distant relative and what their role was in the child life) The child should be taken to a professional counselor to minimize any long term damage.

Answer 4

Honestly, "abuse" is a broad term. If you are talking about "fondling" than it may not be so much an abuse thing as much as it may be just perverted. Fondling may never really effect the child unless it's pointed out to the child that it's "abuse" however it prematurely introduces the child to satisfying the adult for the adults selfish reasons. It's difficult to understand the attraction an adult could have with such a young child.

Answer 5

it usually causes life long harm especially in being able to form trusting relationships of any kind. It also makes that person more likely to abuse a child when they get older, physically usually. Seems like it would be the reverse, but the abused often grow up to abuse...

I was married to a woman who was abused, and later dated another. It seems like it is everywhere.

Answer 6

Sexual abuse does not ALWAYS lead to problems and people who have been abused can overcome it, too.

But some problems are
feeling powerless
feelings of guilt, shame and isolation
loss of trust and safety
emotional and psychological problems
sexual maladjustment
problems with interpersonal relationships
social functioning
depression
suppressed memory
denial of self, or a feeling of being outside self.
nightmares (particularly of a sexual nature)
or flashbacks causing fear and anxiety . Women have a higher incidence of gynaecological problems.
Self destructive behaviour - as substance abuse -
Eating disorders
Impaired ability to form intimate and trusting relationships with men or women.
Women victimised as children are more likely to become victims
Men who have been abused are more likely to be the victimizers
Low levels of sexual esteem -
inappropriate sexual behaviour, promiscuity or prostitution.
failure to obtain pleasure from sex,
Fear of medical examination of genitalia or breasts.







On the other hand, I have a lot of these problems too and I was never abused.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, all sorts of psychological problems WILL arise. This person will have to work hard to overcome such issues as trust, safety, security, boundries, resentments, anger, self-loathing and self destructive behaviours..not just the psychological is affected but also the emotional, mental and spiritual.

Answer 8

Post traumatic stress disorder, depression, high incidence of eating disorders, stress disorders, anxiety disorders, night terrors or night mares, etc. There is a wide variety of things you can suffer from. Please get some help. There is great help and you do not have to suffer alone. Been there myself. Trust me, you can heal from this.

Answer 9

PROBLEMS WITH MEN AND RELATIONSHIPS AND SEX.