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Impact of Sexual Assault
Factors Aiding Recovery
- Having someone believe that a sexual assault was committed
- Family/friend support
- Positive self esteem
- Support from community systems (police, medical, court)
- Opportunity to freely discuss the assault and fears/issues associated with it
- Not being forced to recover according to someone else’s time line
Factors Delaying Recovery
- Prior sexual assault/abuse
- Repeated assaults within a relationship
- Negative self-esteem
- Lack of social support
- Lack of food, shelter, clothing and safety
- Simultaneous problems: Family, financial, academic
- Substance dependency (alcohol, other drugs)
- Stage of personal development
- Prior sexual experience
- Assailant known to the survivor
- Increased physical ailments
- Depression
- Suicidal behavior
- Psychotic behavior
- Eating disorders
Gradually you may enter a period of apparent readjustment, feeling you have “moved on” from the incident. Often, the rape lingers in the background of your daily life as you try to get back to “normal” while attempting to make sense of what has happened. At some point, you may experience a seemingly abrupt reemergence of assault-related memories.
The initial sign of integration may be a return of troubling responses that were experienced earlier. Such disturbing thoughts may be a transition to the final phase of recovery, or integration. These may include:
- Graphic flashbacks of the rape (often triggered by certain sights, sounds, smells, or other sensory stimulation)
- Nightmares
- Increased anxiety
- Depression
- Eating disturbances
- Insomnia
- Tension
- Headaches
Your emotional turmoil may surface in ways that are disquieting and perhaps unpredictable. Many relationships undergo the greatest period of stress at this time because you appear to be getting worse, not better.
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