Our friend returned for the last time to visit friends. She moved to Colorado so her sister can help take care of her. She has early onset dementia. I feel so sad and also some fear that it could happen to me. She had been abused by a neighbor as a young child and I wonder if that trauma can play a part in how our brain was affected by this type of abuse later on in life. She had not been able to work through it because of the times and when she brought it up to a counselor, that counselor told her she was NOT going to talk about that. So that closed the door for our friend.
I have read recent research which tied childhood trauma to major depression and in another study, major depression to Parkinson’s. When people minimize or do not understand the long-term health effects from childhood sexual trauma, it is discouraging. I wonder what the responses would be if these studies were tied together showing how it is connected? Since childhood sexual abuse occurs in at least 25% of our population, how come this is not a public health concern?
When I began accumulating information for my thesis from studies on the long-term physical health effects from child sexual abuse, I was astounded. I felt anger at how this abuse affects my health and will continue to affect it. This does not mean that all associated health issues related to this type of abuse will come to fruition and I cannot do anything about it. Some of it I can; some I cannot. Maybe I can minimize some of them. Just the awareness will help me to take charge of what I can do.
Following is a segment of my research paper which illustrates the possible physical health issues related to being sexually abused in childhood. I believe when we are aware of these, we can understand and then take action to help in our healing.
Child Sexual Abuse: Reclaiming Lives, Kathleen McDowell, Saint Mary’s University, 2011, pp 10-12
There is a connection between CSA and physical ailments presented in adulthood. People who are sexually abused have greater risk for a whole host of physical health disorders that may occur many years after the abusive incidents.
Women who experience difficult health issues as adults often have a history of physical and/or sexual abuse (Bonomi, Cannon, Anderson, Rivara, & Thompson, 2008). These ailments include gastrointestinal symptoms, atypical pain responses, cardiovascular symptoms, gynecological dysfunctions, depressive disorders, psychosomatic symptoms of anxiety, panic, or PTSD.
Gynecological problems include “sexually transmitted diseases, pelvic inflammatory disease, multiple yeast infections, premenstrual syndrome, early hysterectomy, excessive menstrual bleeding, genital burning, painful intercourse, dysmenorrhea, menstrual irregularity, lack of sexual pleasure . . .” and so forth (Sickel, Noll, Moore, Putnam, & Trickett, 2002, pp. 584-585). There may also be chronic or ongoing pelvic pain and inflammatory disease, severe menstrual problems, and urinary tract infections. The gastrointestinal aspects are irritable bowel syndrome, non-ulcer dyspepsia (indigestion), and chronic abdominal pain (Sickel et al., 2002).
Somatic complaints are a category of physical symptoms for which the biological cause is not known. They include, “headaches, sleep disturbance, anorexia, asthma, shortness of breath, chronic muscle tension, muscle spasms, and higher blood pressure” (Sickel et al., 2002, p. 585). Patients who experienced CSA reported the following:
. . . greater fatigue, more headaches, increased back, breast and face pain, greater skin and respiratory problems, more shortness of breath and choking sensations, decreased appetite, decreased sleep, lower satisfaction with their overall health status, a greater number of actual somatic symptoms, and engaging in increased health risk behaviors versus non-abused patients. (Sickel et al., 2002, p. 585)
Other health issues noted in conjunction with CSA were reports of “poorer overall health, greater functional limitation, increased chronic disease, increased medically explained as well as unexplained complaints, increased general sleep problems and nightmares, greater pain and muscular tension including headaches” (Sickel et al., 2002, p. 585). Also, women exhibited poorer health as they aged (Sickel et al., 2002).
Research links CSA with long-term and chronic physical health issues like eating disorders, drug/alcohol dependency, gastrointestinal, reproductive, obesity, pain-related issues, heart and liver diseases, and brain delays (Havig, 2008). Other concerns are “diminished immune system capacity and chemical effects on the body of stress and trauma, resulting in both physical and psychological coping mechanisms that affect health” (Havig, 2008, p. 21).
Sexual abuse is also tied to obesity and weight gain (Sickel et al., 2002). Obesity and depression, rampant in the U.S., are connected to many health complications and diseases when adults self-reported child abuse, there was a connection to obesity risk (Rohde, Ichikawa, Simon, Ludman, Linde et al, 2008). Women who had reported sexual or physical abuse as children were twice as likely to experience obesity and depression in middle age as well as engage in binge eating and report dissatisfaction with their body (Rohde et al., 2008). I would also surmise body distortion.
Survivors of abuse were substantially more likely to be obese, also current and former smokers as compared to individuals who were not abused (Springer, 2009). Survivors also reported worse physical health, poorer mental health, and increased health risks; the health effects for middle-aged men and women are affected by childhood physical abuse to the same degree and through similar mechanisms (Springer, 2009).
There is a greater risk for a host of physical health disorders that may occur many years after the abusive incidents. “CSA was associated with worse functional disability, more physical symptoms, more physician-coded medical diagnoses, nearly twice the emergency room visits, and greater median annual health care costs” (Nunes, Watanabe, Marimoto, Moriya, & Reiche, 2010, pp. 440-441).
Chronic physical health consequences that can occur long after the abuse has stopped are “abdominal pain, gastrointestinal disorders, pelvic pain, gynecologic disorders, headache, panic, and PTSD” along with “ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia” (Nunes et al., 2010, p. 441).
On the other hand, negative bias of chronic stress may have health consequences. Physically, it weakens the immune system and inhibits the gastrointestinal system by reducing the absorption of nutrients. It also reduces and disrupts reproductive hormones, disturbing the nervous system, and increases vulnerabilities in the cardiovascular system. Mentally, it lowers moods and increases pessimism, anxiety, and irritability. Chronic stress primes aversion, often reducing approach behaviors (less so for women) and increases learned helplessness, particularly if no escape is seen.
Females who have been sexually abused have common interpersonal struggles like fear and distrust which leads to disruption in communication and mutual trust between doctor and patient (Sickel et al., 2002). With various kinds of health issues arising, health care professionals are not likely to connect past childhood abuse to presenting physical health issues. Health care concerns are connected to lifestyle choices such as eating and exercise habits or it is something we are born with. Research is indicating that some of the health issues are the result of previous child abuse. When a background of abuse is not disclosed, it can lead to misdiagnosis or retraumatization. And again, this can add further shame, embarrassment, stigma, and powerlessness. It seems easier to discuss emotional issues related to past abuse with mental health professionals than talking to doctors in connection to physical ailments that could be related to the same issues. Add the number of people who are too afraid to see health care professionals and do not receive the medical care, including dental care, preventive and otherwise, and diseases can progress so far along that it becomes more expensive to address and treat. It impacts a person’s quality of life.
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