#Neglect / #negligenttreatment is something that should never have happened. Particularly, when used as a âlearning toolâ for 1st borns. Only when later children are raised âbetterâ, by not exposing them do these âgodly folkâ change their practices: Nothing to see here â move on!
RETRIEVED via @treacl + @royalcommbbc tweets (May 2022).
Tags: NRS, RC, SDBC and tagged 1st borns, baptist, BBC, boys brigade, child sexual abuse, Church, church family, ecosystem, first borns, girls brigade, habitus, history, neglect, patterns, RC, redress, royal commission, SDBC, support, youth group
Gaslighting is an insidious erosion of your sense of reality; it creates a mental fog of epic proportions in the twisted âfunhouseâ of smoke, mirrors, and distortions that is an abusive relationship. When a malignant narcissist gaslights you, they engage in crazymaking discussions and character assassinations where they challenge and invalidate your thoughts, emotions, perceptions, and sanity. Gaslighting enables narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths to exhaust you to the point where you are unable to fight back. Rather than finding ways to healthily detach from this toxic person, you are sabotaged in your efforts to find a sense of certainty and validation in what youve experienced.
The term âgaslightingâ originated in Patrick Hamiltons 1938 play, Gas Light, where a manipulative husband drove his wife to insanity by causing her to question what she experienced. It was further popularized in the 1944 film adaptation, Gaslight, a psychological thriller about a man named Gregory Anton who murders a famous opera singer. He later marries her niece, Paula to convince her she is going crazy to the point of being institutionalized, with the agenda of stealing the rest of her family jewels. According to Dr. George Simon, victims of chronic gaslighting can suffer from a wide array of side effects, including flashbacks, heightened anxiety, intrusive thoughts, a low sense of self-worth, and mental confusion. In cases of severe manipulation and abuse, gaslighting can even lead to suicidal ideation, self-harm, and self-sabotage.
Gaslighting can take many forms from questioning the status of your mental health to outright challenging your lived experiences. The most dangerous culprits of gaslighting? Malignant narcissists, who, by default, use gaslighting as a strategy to undermine the perception of their victims in order to evade accountability for their abuse. These perpetrators can use gaslighting callously and sadistically because they lack the remorse, empathy, or conscience to have any limits when they terrorize you or covertly provoke you. Gaslighting by a malignant narcissist is covert murder with clean hands, allowing the perpetrator to get away with their mistreatment while depicting the victims as the abusers.
Iâve spoken to thousands of survivors of malignant narcissists who have shared their stories of gaslighting, and below I include the most commonly used phrases malignant narcissists, sociopaths,and psychopaths employ to terrorize and deplete you, translated into what they really mean.
These phrases, when chronically used in the context of an abusive relationship, serve to demean, belittle and distort the reality of abuse victims.
Translation:Youâre not the pathological one here. Youârejust catching onto who I really am behind the mask and attempting to hold me accountable for my questionable behavior. Iâd rather you question your own sanity so you believe that the problem is really you, rather than my own deceptiveness and manipulation. So long as you believe youâre the one who needs help, Iâll never have to take responsibility for changing my own disordered ways of thinking and behaving.
Malignant narcissists play the smirking doctors to their victims, treating them like unruly patients. Diagnosing their victims with mental health issues for having emotions is a way to pathologize their victims and undermine their credibility; this is even more effective when abusers are able to provoke reactions in their victims to convince society that they are the ones with mental health problems. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, some abusers will even actively drive their victims to the edge to concoct proof of their instability. The Hotline estimates that around 89% of their callers have experienced some form of mental health coercion and that 43% had experienced a substance abuse coercion from an abuser.
Most survivors who reported their abusive partners had actively contributed to mental health difficulties or their use of substances also said their partners threatened to use the difficulties or substance use against them with important authorities, such as legal or child custody professionals, to prevent them from obtaining custody or other things that they wanted or needed.The National Center on Domestic Violence and the Domestic Violence Hotline
Translation:I enjoy planting seeds of insecurity and doubt in your mind about your attractiveness, competence, and personality. If you dare to question my numerous flirtations, affairs, and inappropriate interactions, Iâll be sure to put you back in your place in fear of losing me. The problem, as Iâll convince you, isnât my deceptive behavior. Itâsyour inability to remain confident while I perpetually put you down, compare you in demeaning ways to others, and eventually cast you aside for the next best thing.
Manufacturing love triangles and harems are a narcissistâs forte. Robert Greene, author of The Art of Seduction, speaks about creating âan aura of desirabilityâ which stirs a frenzied sense of competition among potential suitors. In abuse survivor communities, this tactic is also known as triangulation. It grants malignant narcissists a depraved sense of power over their victims. They actively provoke jealousy in their intimate partners in order to control them and paint them as unhinged when they finally react. When a victim calls out a narcissistâs infidelity in any way, it is common for them to label the victims insecure, controlling, and jealous to avoid suspicion and to continue to reap the benefits of multiple sources of attention, praise, and ego strokes.
Translation:Itâs not that youâre too sensitive, but rather that I am insensitive, callous, and unempathic. I do not care about your emotions unless they serve me in some way. Your negative reactions provide me stimulation and pleasure, so please, do keep going. I enjoy putting you down for having legitimate reactions to my abuse.
According to Dr. Robin Stern, one of the effects of gaslighting include asking yourself Am I too sensitive? a dozen times a day. Claiming that victims are overreacting or oversensitive to emotional abuse is a popular way for malignant narcissists to override your certainty about the severity of the abuse you experienced.
Whether or not someone is a sensitive person is irrelevant when it comes to cases of psychological or physical violence. Abuse affects anyone and everyone of varying sensitivity levels, and its impact should not be taken lightly. A mark of a healthy partner is that they give you the space to feel your emotions and provide emotional validation, even if they do not agree with you. A malignant narcissist will excessively focus on your so-called sensitivity and consistently claim that you are overreacting rather than own their horrific actions when called out, regardless of how âsensitiveâ you may be.
Translation: I love disguising my abusive behavior as just jokes. I like calling you names, putting you down, and then claiming youâre the one who lacks the sense of humor to appreciate my depraved âwit.â Making you feel defective allows me to say and do whatever I wish, all with a smile and a derisive laugh.
Disguising cruel remarks, off-color comments, and put-downs as âjust jokesâ is a popular verbal abuse tactic, according to Patricia Evans, author of The Verbally Abusive Relationship. This malicious tactic is very different from playful teasing which takes a certain amount of rapport, trust, and mutual enjoyment. When malignant narcissists dole out these unsettling âjokes,â they can engage in acts of name-calling, taunting, belittling and contempt while evading the responsibility of issuing an apology or owning their vicious verbal assaults. You are then gaslighted into believing that it is your inability to appreciate the âhumorâ behind their cruelty, rather than the reality of its abusive intentions.
âJust jokesâ are also used to test boundaries early on in an abusive relationship; what you may have rationalized as a tone-deaf or off-color comment in the beginning can escalate into psychological violence quite quickly in the hands of a narcissist. If you find that you have a partner who laughs at you more than they laugh with you, run. It will not get better.
Translation: I havenât given you enough time to even process the last heinous incident of abuse, but you need to let it go already so I can move forward with exploiting you without facing any consequences for my behavior. Let me love-bomb you into thinking that things will be different this time around. Donât bring up my past patterns of abusive behavior, because youâll then recognize that this is a cycle that will just continue.
In any abuse cycle, itâs common for an abuser to engage in a hot-and-cold cycle where they periodically throw in crumbs of affection to keep you hooked and to renew hope for a return to the honeymoon phase. This is a manipulation tactic known as intermittent reinforcement, and itâs common for an abuser to terrorize you, only to return the next day and act like nothing has happened. When you do recall any abusive incidents, an abuser will tell you to âlet it goâ so they can sustain the cycle.
This form of abuse amnesia adds onto your addictive bond to the abuser, also known as âtrauma bonding.â According to Dr. Logan (2018), Trauma bonding is evidenced in any relationship which the connection defies logic and is very hard to break. The components necessary for a trauma bond to form are a power differential, intermittent good/bad treatment, and high arousal and bonding periods.https://74478144733d8f22c65a31173c8b0af0.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Translation: I am the problem here, but Iâll be damned if I let you know it! Iâd rather subject you to personal attacks as you bend over backwards trying to hit constantly moving goalposts and arbitrary expectations of the way I think you should feel and behave. As you spend most of your time trying to fix your fabricated flaws while always coming up short of what I deem âworthy,â I can just sit back, relax, and continue to mistreat you the way I feel entitled to. You wonât have any energy left to call me out.
Itâs common for abusive partners to engage in malignant projection â to even go as far as to call their victims the narcissists and abusers, and to dump their own malignant qualities and behaviors onto their victims. This is a way for them to gaslight their victims into believing that they are the ones at fault and that their reactions to the abuse, rather than the abuse itself, is the problem. According to Narcissistic Personality clinical expert Dr. Martinez-Lewi, these projections tend to be psychologically abusive. As she writes, âThe narcissist is never wrong. He {or she} automatically blames others when anything goes awry. It is very stressful to be the recipient of narcissistic projections. The sheer force of the narcissists accusations and recriminations is stunning and disorienting.â
Translation:Making you question what I did or said allows me to cast doubt on your perceptions and memories of the abuse youâve experienced. If I make you think that youâre imagining things, youâll start to wonder if youâre going crazy, rather than pinpointing the evidence which proves I am an abuser.
In the movie Gaslight, Gregory causes his new wife to believe that her aunts house is haunted so she can be institutionalized. He does everything from rearranging items in the house, flickering gas lights on to making noises in the attic so she is no longer able to discern whether or not what sheâs seeing is real. He isolates her so that she is unable to gain validation. After manufacturing these crazymaking scenarios, he then convinces her that these events are all a figment of her imagination.
Many victims of chronic gaslighting struggle with the cognitive dissonance which occurs when their abuser tells them that they never did or said something. Much like reasonable doubt can sway a jury, even the hint that something may not have happened after all can be powerful enough to override someoneâs perceptions. Researchers Hasher, Goldstein and Toppino (1997) call this the âillusory truth effectâ â they discovered that when falsehoods are repeated, they are more likely to be internalized as true simply due to the effects of repetition. That is why continual denial and minimization can be so effective in convincing victims of gaslighting that they are indeed imagining things or suffering from memory loss, rather than standing firm in their beliefs and experiences.
The Big Picture
In order to resist the effects of gaslighting, you must get in touch with your own reality and prevent yourself from getting entrapped into an endless loop of self-doubt. Learn to identify the red flags of malignant narcissists and their manipulation tactics so you can get out of disorienting, crazymaking conversations with malignant narcissists before they escalate into wild accusations, projections, blameshifting and put-downs which will only exacerbate your sense of confusion. Develop a sense of self-validation and self-trust so you can get in touch with how you really feel about the way someone is treating you, rather than getting stuck attempting to explain yourself to a manipulator with an agenda.
Getting space from your abuser is essential. Be sure to document events as they happened, rather than how your abuser tells you they happened. Save text messages, voicemails, e-mails, audio or video recordings (if permitted in your state laws) which can help you to remember the facts in times of mental fog, rather than subscribing to the distortions and delusions of the abuser.
Engage in extreme self-care by participating in mind-body healing modalities which target the physical as well as psychological symptoms of the abuse. Recovery is important to achieve mental clarity. Enlist the help of a third party, such as a trauma-informed therapist, and go through the incidents of abuse together to anchor yourself back to what youâve experienced. Malignant narcissists might attempt to rewrite your reality, but you donât have to accept their twisted narratives as truth.
References
Evans, P. (2010). The verbally abusive relationship: How to recognize it and how to respond. Avon, MA: Adams Media.
Greene, R. (2004).The art of seduction. Gardners Books.
Hasher, L., Goldstein, D., & Toppino, T. (1977). Frequency and the conference of referential validity.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior,16(1), 107-112. doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(77)80012-1
Stern, R., & Wolf, N. (2018). The gaslight effect: How to spot and survive the hidden manipulation others use to control your life. New York: Harmony Books.
Warshaw, C., Lyon, E., Bland, P. J., Phillips, H., & Hooper, M. (2014). Mental Health and Substance Use Coercion Surveys. Report from the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health. Retrieved here. November 5, 2017.Psych Central does not review the content that appears in our blog network (blogs.psychcentral.com) prior to publication. All opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the author alone, and do not reflect the views of the editorial staff or management of Psych Central. Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
The Catholic Church paid $276 million to victims of alleged sex abuse committed by priests in Australia over decades, an investigation says.
Critics say the system of payments is unfair and not all victims receive the same opportunities or compensation.
Since 2013, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been holding hearings on alleged Catholic Church sex abuse of children â mostly boys.
âCatholic Church authorities made total payments of [AU]$276.1 million [US$213million] in response to claims of child sexual abuse received between 1 January 1980 and 28 February 2015, including monetary compensation, treatment, legal and other costs,â the statement from the commission said on Thursday.
On average, sex abuse victims received AU$91,000 in compensation, it stated.
The Christian Brothers religious community âreported both the highest total payment and the largest number of total payments $48.5 million paid in relation to 763 payments at an average of approximately $64,000 per payment,â the document said.null
The report added that the Jesuits âhad the highest average total payment at an average of approximately $257,000 per payment (of those Catholic Church authorities who made at least 10 payments).â
Read analysis of Catholic Church Authoritiesâ data on claims of child abuse https://t.co/4AYWsYEytb
âEven though the church has paid $270 million and it took a long time to get its act together to do that, thereâs no doubt the system of paying people and compensating them is best done independently of the church through a national redress scheme,âthe Churchâs Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive, Francis Sullivan, told AAP.
Sullivan said that not all victims have equal opportunities or compensation.
âSome congregations pay far more than others. Some dioceses pay far more than others. Itâs still not a fair system,â he added.
Itâs a picture of great unfairness and inequity between survivors across Australia depending on where they placed their claim,â Helen Last, CEO of In Good Faith Foundation, which represents 460 abuse victims, told Reuters.
The commission was established in 2013 to investigate instances and allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia. This monthâs report says that between January 1980 and February 2015, 93 Catholic Church authorities received claims of child sexual abuse from 4,445 people.
It managed to identify 1,880 alleged perpetrators, who included 597 (32 percent) âreligious brothers,â572 (30 percent) priests, 543 (29 percent) lay people, and 96 (5 percent) âreligious sisters.â At least 90 percent of the alleged perpetrators were male, according to the report.
Sexual abuse scandals have long dogged the Catholic Church. In 2014, the Vatican said 3,420 credible accusations of sexual abuse committed by priests had been referred to it over the past 10 years, and that 824 clerics were defrocked as a result.
In January, Pope Francis called for âzero toleranceâtowards sex crimes against children, and condemned it as âa sin that shamesâ both the perpetrators and those who cover up for their crimes.
Todayâs the day! Although the victim of a childhood full of ingrained occasions of #childabuse (through institutions of church-school-family) another Supervised Occassion involved âupgrades(?)â to previously denied instances. This time round, after expected âmemory lossesâ, the father admitted to remembering that some of these moments had been exchanged, yet had been ignored as simply âunbelievable childhood storiesâ.
Intriguingly, these same scenario had been raised in multiple Counselling calls, fore-planning an effective way to deal with them. Denial, Blame-shifting + Dismissal were included â along with a regular threat of âviolenceâ (in his âcoping strategyâ!). Counselling, for the parents had also been raised â in coping with the âInstitutional groomingâ, occurring amongst various groups.
Family + reconnection âŚ
Posted on
Family contact may occur, in the midst of #childabuse #counselling. However, when the unknown parent disagrees with the losses of the child (victim), not much is gained in a reconnection.
PUBLISHED: 15:28 AEDT, 3 February 2021 | UPDATED: 15:28 AEDT, 3 February 2021
A lawyer accused of ‘stereotyping poor people’ on a Facebook page she set-up after her luxury car was stolen has stepped down from the board of an elite Christian school group.
Dr Bridget Cullen created the tongue-in-cheek page after her black 2017 BMW 5 series sports car was stolen from her Indooroopilly, west Brisbane, home in December last year.
The high-flying lawyer jokingly pretended to be the alleged offender on a page called Bridget’s BMW Rescue Journey.
But the attempted humour was not well received by parents and other members of the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association.
The governing body oversees the prestigious Brisbane Boys’ College, Somerville House, Clayfield College and Sunshine Coast Grammar schools.
A self-described ‘bad-ass middle-aged mother’. Dr Cullen announced her departure on Tuesday night following a social media backlash.
Dr Bridget Cullen (pictured) said she started a Facebook page to assist police with their investigations after her luxury car was alleged stolenDr Cullen’s black 2017 BMW 5 series sports car was allegedly stolen from her home in Indooroopilly, west Brisbane in December last year. The vehicle has since been recovered
The public page, which has since been deleted, followed a fictional meth-addicted teenager whose mother is a prostitute living in government housing in Redbank.
The series of satirical posts followed the teenager as he drove the vehicle around the local area and continued to break the law, including stealing mobile phones.
‘Driving the beast all over town, buying up big on pseudoephedrine for big cook-up tonight,’ one post read.
According to the posts, the fictional teen had spent time at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, used fake IDs and referred to people who live in ‘Indro’ as ‘c**ts’.
The teen would also go on ‘benders’ and revealed how when they visited their grandmother for her birthday they yelled ‘What the f**k are you trying to do?’.
Almost 600 followers joined the page, reportedly including Liberal National Party candidate for the Brisbane seat of McConnel in the 2020 state election, Pinky Singh.
Criminal lawyer Tam Elabbasi was also reportedly a ‘top fan’ of the page and allegedly wrote on the Facebook page on January 26 ‘I’m negotiating your movie deal! Easy money lol!’.
A series of posts on the Bridget’s BMW Rescue Journey Facebook page which Dr Cullen set-up in response to her vehicle allegedly being stolen
A senior source within the schools told the Courier-Mail the posts were ‘wildly inappropriate, and stereotyped poor people in disadvantaged areas’.
Another said they were shocked by the ‘horrific language’ used.
Dr Cullen had been frustrated police were unable to use tracking technology to locate the vehicle because of privacy laws.
She said she created the page ‘to harness the power of social media to assist police in their investigation’.
Queensland Police eventually recovered the vehicle and Dr Cullen said she was grateful for their work and for those who provided information in response to her posts.
A senior source within the schools said the posts were ‘wildly inappropriate, and stereotyped poor people in disadvantaged areas’. Pictured: Clayfield CollegeDr Cullen announced her departure on Tuesday night following a social media backlash. Pictured: Somerville HouseThe Facebook page had close to 600 followers but has since been pulled down after a backlash
Any attempt to suggest that my posts were more than this would be driven by an agenda that does not respect my status as a recent victim of crime,’ she said on Monday evening.
‘I am committed to social justice, for all persons in our society. It is often the case when a woman is in a leadership position that some people will look for an easy way to cut them down.’
The governing body’s code of conduct states that members must ‘treat every individual with courtesy and respect’ and ‘use social media appropriately and responsibly’.
PMSA chair Morgan Parker acknowledged Dr Cullen had ‘worked tirelessly during the transformative journey of the PMSA and she has made it clear that she has no interest in becoming a distraction to this significant body of work’.
‘We would like to reassure our community we are committed to the highest standards of conduct and ethical behaviour that are consistent with our Christian values,’ Mr Parker said.
Her departure comes in the wake of Mark Gray’s shock resignation as Brisbane Boysâ College (pictured) Council Chair in August last year over gripes with managementDr Cullen was recently appointed to to the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association which owns Brisbane Boys’ College, Clayfield College, Somerville House and Sunshine Coast Grammar School (pictured)
From âWhen British Royals Are Pedophiles, Itâs Called Peccadilloesâ (Frank Report 2019), James Saville fronts the article (as follows).
James Saville
Through reading of this article, attention is drawn again and again by the following second paragraph:
Watch the deck being reshuffled over and over again as the âeliteâ take care of their own.
Despite receiving intense amounts of counselling, therapies, medications and distractions: many CSA Victims continue to speak about the intensity of their CARC Session and-or their NRS Submission, ripple effects within marriages and families whoâre reluctant to admit that these (unkown) Abuses âever happenedâ (âunder their responsibilityâ), disputes and victim-blaming that may result when the CSA Victim has to retell/relive these past experiences to uninvolved relations âfor interest sakeâ, splits that may often be blamed on the CSA Victim for âbeing the needle in the haystackâ of their family separation.
many CSA Victims continue to speak about the intensity of their CARC Session and-or;
their NRS Submission;
ripple effects within marriages and families whoâre reluctant to admit that these (unkown) Abuses âever happenedâ (âunder their responsibilityâ);
common descriptions of young victims being so targeted, that they did not even know of what parts of the human anatomy were involved: âbefore I had ever even heard of sex or knew what anatomy was usedâ (Shivani, 5th paragraph, 2019);
patterns of predators should always be reported + shared with others in that community type (just as this RCbbc.blog). this allows for cautious advice to be shared with others (previous, existing + potential);
disputes and victim-blaming that may result when the CSA Victim has to retell/relive these past experiences to uninvolved relations âfor interest sakeâl;
an earlier victim of a known CSA Predator has gone from being victim, to re-enacting these same behaviours on a new victim. these actions should not occurr + Police should be contacted ASAP;
splits that may often be blamed on the CSA Victim for âbeing the needle in the haystackâ of their family separation;
Hike these are only some of the potential âhaystack needlesâ, they do describe some of the experiences that some of the BBC Students had experienced, witnessed or ignored during their enrolment. These articles were never meant to make accusations, only to provide another POV in the often controlled world of âfree media exposureâ. Comments are welcomed, yet relevant threats will now be reported through applicable QPS CPIU channels (previous OCA comments included). As overlapping instances of Qld Baptistâs SDBC have been cited, these warnings are also made via SDBC_RC.
Prince Charles with Sir James, suspected of being a long standing pedophile.
For many of the CSA Victim-Survivours and their families, the misconception of âjustified manipulationâ is making a major part of the bigger picture. In experiences of multiple forms of âonly our student/family has to deal with thisâ, the similar deny-deny-deny veil has been used repeatedly throughout the different institutions (i.e. churches, schools, clubs & teams) to use fake-news to hide the truths.
Ron Miller. (2016).
Catholic, other denominations (e.g. Anglican, Baptist, Presbetarian, Methodist), Private Schools (e.g. GPS: ACGS, BBC, BGS, GT, NC, TGS, TSS; ), lawyers, justice dept., police (state + federal), schools (Private – notably same-gender), journalism (online, paid and social) and other interested bodies have each increased their POV.
PRAYBOY satire of iconic Playboy media
While broad scale requests were sent to noted Private Schools (SEQ-GPS & NSW), Legal Bodies and Institutions already mentioned – there has (expectedly) been minimal feedback. Although there have been relevant leaps in Blog statistics, countries and articles – relevant ABC and SBS News contact has been included:
Perhaps they are too busy adjusting for these earlier exploits;
the hand of god has sent a messenger;
they each promise their sorrow, never to repeat it again (again);
Tassos Kouris (2008)
These âdifferent piecesâ are being combined in RCbbcâs posts, to explain to readers that their repeated use + reuse is all too common. While reuse of positives may be understood for âcompetitive gainâ, âacademic prowessâ and âscientific understandingâ, the often (silent đ¤ ) ânegative gainsâ are also swept-under-the-carpet:
As harmful as this may be to our individual children,
itâs also gravely hurtful – when taking a step back,
realise one action leads to another (influence),
tweeks-adaptions made to allow greater deception +
Having completed my initial NRS Experiences and Impact Statements (NRS Fact Sheet, 2019), it initially felt ironic that the most nerves I had felt was actually at the final stage: Apologies. Advice that has given earlier indicates that description of each individual instance, together with personal impacts from each of their ongoing effects supports the evidence throughout the Instances and Impact Statements. While I had previously had the wrong POV, that completing Instances and Impact Statements, my work would be over – taking a wider POV, itâs now clearer that each section confirms and complements related matters throughout the NRS Submission.
NRS icon
As exciting as all this may sound, the journey of its lodgement isnât over. knowmore (Community Legal Service) is another body involved in the National Redress Scheme. There are also Senior Staff within Blue Knot, who are able to offer their advice into the fine-tuning/tweaking of the order, expressions, focus and editing of Preliminary NRS Submissions.
In working my way through some of the updated NRS data, I came across the following list of possible example list of impacts of CSA experiences (Describing Impact of your Application, 2019). In closer focus, it began to both horrify my and reminded me in the instance(s) that Iâm drafting up a list of requested apologies. I also realise that I am âbut one fish in the seaâ of previous CSA Assaults. Although I feel fortunate for the beneficial discussions Iâve had, my deepest request/suggestion goes out to any other Surviving-Victim of CSA: Seeking Help can be done anonymously! When youâre ready to take things further, Expert Guidance is available.
Recognizing common symptoms of childhood sexual abuse can help parents, caregivers, teachers, social workers, counselors and childcare staff alert the appropriate authorities and take proper steps to protect the welfare and safety of our children. It is far too often that I hear stories of adults, who fail to recognize that something is wrong with their child and attribute concerning changes in their kidsâ behavior to temperament, age or other misguided explanations.
Because of this, I want to take a quick look at 11 common psychiatric symptoms experienced by victims of childhood sexual abuse but please keep in mind that this is not a diagnostic guide or a substitute for professional consultation. I have tried to clump together common symptoms that bring people (both children and adults) to the therapy office due to past history of childhood sexual abuse but this is by no means a comprehensive list and any of those symptoms taken separately may have other etiologies.
Depending on the age, specific nature of the sexual trauma and the temperament and coping skills of each person, the clinical presentation may look differently. If you have experienced any form of childhood trauma, abuse or neglect, you may identity with some of the behaviors and patterns discussed below. In that case, I would highly suggest seeking out some help.
1.Dissociation. Dissociation is probably the most common defense mechanism the mind employs to protect itself from the trauma of sexual assault. It is the escape of the mind from the body in times of extreme stress, sense of powerlessness, pain and suffering.
2. Self-Injurious Behavior (cutting, self-mutilation). Self-mutilation is another way survivors of trauma employ in an effort to cope with the experience of severe emotional and psychological pain. Some research shows that during cutting or self-mutilation, the brain releases natural opioids that provide a temporary experience or sense of calm and peace that many, who cut, find soothing.
3. Fear and anxiety. An overactive stress response system* is among the most common psychiatric symptoms in survivors of sexual trauma. This is manifested in extreme fear, social anxiety, panic attacks, phobias and hyper vigilance. It is as if the body is in a state of constant alert and cannot relax.
4. Nightmares. Just like the intrusive terrorizing memories of war veterans, survivors of sexual abuse often experience nightmares, intrusive thoughts and disrupted sleep.
5. Substance Abuse. Abusing substances is a common coping mechanism for people, who have experienced trauma. Even the ânormalâ experimentation with drugs of adolescence is not so ânormal,â especially if you raised your kid to know the impact of drugs on the central nervous system, the consequences of addiction and the long-term effects of habitual drug use.
6. Hypersexualized behavior. This is a commonreaction to pre-mature sexual exposure or a traumatic sexual experience. If a child is too young to be excessively masturbating or is engaging in pre-mature sexual play or behavior, this is typically a sign that the child has witnessed, been a participant in or has been exposed to adult sexuality. In adolescence and adulthood, this can take the form of promiscuity, illegal sexual activity such as prostitution or participation in pornography, escort services, etc.
7. Psychotic-like symptoms. Paranoia, hallucinations or brief psychotic episodes are not uncommon for survivors of child sexual abuse.
8. Mood fluctuations, anger and irritability. Children are often unable to verbalize their feelings so instead, they act out on them. Sometimes, the same is true for adults. Mood fluctuations, irritability and disrupted neurotransmitter systems in the brain that present as depression, mania, anger and anxiety are common among trauma survivors.
9. Disrupted relationships and difficulties maintaining long-term friendships or romantic partners. Following the aftermath of sexual abuse, people are not experienced as safe, trustworthy and available so maintaining long-term relationships based on honestly is difficult and often tumultuous.
10. Regressive behaviors (mostly in children). Enuresis (bed wetting) and encopresis (involuntary soiling onesâ underwear with feces) in a previously potty-trained child, unexplained and sudden temper tantrums or violent outbursts, as well as clingy, uncontrollable or impulsive behaviors that were previously missing from a childâs way of being with others is another common indicator of something gone terribly wrong.
11. Physical complaints, psychosomatic symptoms or autoimmune responses of the body. Many clinicians from different schools of thought have written on the subject of the way the body stores and remembers trauma in response to the mind rejecting, forgetting or dissociating from the experience. Psychoanalysis terms these reactions âunconsciousâ as they express an experience out of language, out of words and often out of what is perceiveable by an individual.
When the unthinkable happens such as in several of the clinical cases described by Dr. Bruce Perry in his book âThe Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatristâs Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us about Loss, Love and Healing,â the mind copes by mobilizing the body to express something that is otherwise inexpressible with words. We see in Dr. Perryâs neuroscientific approach to the understanding and treatment of traumatized children how the physical brain responds to the experience of trauma and how the mind communicates and eventually heals from this experience in the safety of the therapeutic relationship.
*I am borrowing the term âoveractive stress response systemâ from Dr. Bruce Perryâs book âThe Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatristâs Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us about Loss, Love and Healing.â Many of the symptoms I have listed in this post are also discussed in his book, including dissociation, self-mutilation and hyper sexualized behavior.
From the above chartâs simple 8 points, how many viewers know of these ordeals? Whether sexual or physical violence, they each are an act of VIOLENCE. Anyoneâs childhood is meant to be appreciated, while we are raised to become âyoung adultsâ at 18. The following image, may also remind some of the hardships as victims of their CSA teachers.
âIgnoring childrenâs needs, putting them in unsupervised, dangerous situations, exposing them to sexual situations, or making them feel worthless or stupid are also forms of child abuse and neglect â and they can leave deep, lasting scars on kids.â (Harrison, The Minds Journal, 2020). The following are major forms of CSA:
Survival of any of the above listed actions, are strongly suggested to talk to someone else about it. Itâs preferable that it be someone outside your immediate family, as there are many Counsellors available. NRS is also being updated, allowing for it to be easier for CSA victims to have their matters sorted – not impacting others (âminimisingâ).
INSTITUTIONS are identified, with description of many of scenarios dealt with in Australiaâs Royal Commission (CARC) and the current National Redress Scheme. For the benefit of those Victims-Survivors that have come forth, we ask for you to consider coming forward. Counselling can be confidential, lodging an Application is when details begin to be made public.