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Childhood Sexual Abuse

    "What seest thou else
in the dark backward and abysm of time?"
Shakespeare, The Tempest.

Statistics indicate that one in every three girls and one in every five boys are sexually assaulted in childhood and new studies point to an increase in those figures. The ramifications of this type of assault are long lasting and difficult to identify. However, they can have a severe effect on an adult's subsequent personality.

Adult symptoms of childhood sexual abuse range from alcoholism and drug abuse to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and what is called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. There can be a disturbance in sexual functioning as an adult or an inability to trust thereby preventing the development of a lasting love relationship. It can cause lower performance at work or at home and there is a higher than average chance that the abused adult will pass on his or her experience. Virtually any psychological symptom can be a result of childhood sexual abuse.

Since the symptoms vary so much there is no simple way to diagnose early sexual abuse. Usually the adult will remember it, at least semi-consciously, and evidence sometimes appears in dreams. A good therapist will not insist that a patient has been sexually abused based on obscure technical evidence but will wait for substantial supportive evidence before bringing the possibility up. Once it has been established that a person has been sexually abused as a child he should be patiently encouraged to talk about it. When one faces the monster it frequently loses its power and the patient becomes the empowered one.