| As an adult have you experienced-but not limited to | | | | process of wounds, punching, slapping, picking skin, |
| the following? | | | | pulling hair, bloodletting, tattooing, piercing |
| - Little or no memory of childhood-age 3 to 12 | | | | - Wearing baggy clothes or clothes a size or two |
| - Trouble with relationships-on the job, in your family, | | | | sizes too large |
| - Low self-esteem, | | | | - Aversion to opposite sex-including homosexuality |
| - Panic attacks-mild to severe, | | | | lesbian |
| - Anxiety, | | | | - Use of pornography-print, video |
| - Phobias, | | | | - Enjoy peep shows, topless dancers, |
| - Depression, | | | | - Become a porn star or pimp, |
| - Inability to trust or trusting indiscriminately, | | | | - Sex offenders-male and female |
| - alcohol/drug abuse, | | | | Suggested Reading: |
| - Obsessive compulsive behavior, | | | | - Heal Your Body, Louise L. Hay |
| - Nightmares of being chased, trapped or surreal, | | | | - The Courage to Heal, Ellen Bass and Laura Davis |
| - Sensory flashes-unable to identify images, | | | | - Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its |
| - Insomnia, | | | | Aftereffects in Women, E. Sue Blume |
| - Suicidal thoughts or attempts, | | | | - Allies in Healing: When the Person You Love Was |
| - A sense of going crazy or feeling unreal compared | | | | Sexually Abused as a Child Laura Davis |
| to others | | | | - Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the |
| - Shame, guilt, | | | | Child, Alice Miller |
| - Sense of underlying humiliation, | | | | - Breaking Down the Walls of Silence: The Liberating |
| - Baseless crying, | | | | Experience of Facing Painful Truth Alice Miller |
| - Angry outbursts/rage seemingly for no reason, | | | | - The Untouched Key: Tracing Childhood Trauma in |
| - Inability to recognize feelings, | | | | Creativity and Destructiveness Alice Miller, et al |
| - Mood swings, | | | | - Banished Knowledge: Facing Childhood Injuries, Alice |
| - Emotional shut down, | | | | Miller |
| - Numbing or zoning out, | | | | - Trauma, Amnesia and the Denial of Abuse, Robert |
| - Arthritis/joint pain, | | | | Falconer, et al., eds. |
| - Diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, | | | | - Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest, |
| - Labeled an 'airhead' | | | | Mike Lew |
| - Chronic/acute fear, | | | | - Wounded Boys, Heroic Men: A Men's Guide to |
| - Headaches/migraines, | | | | Recovering from Child Abuse Daniel Sonkin |
| - Eating disorders-anorexia, bulimia, obesity, | | | | - Broken Boys/Mending Men: Recovery from Child |
| - PMS, | | | | Sexual Abuse, Stephen GrubmanBlack |
| - Vaginismus, | | | | - Female Sexual Abuse of Children, Michele Eliott, ed. |
| - Gastrointestinal/gynecological disorders, | | | | - The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused by |
| - Chronic fatigue, | | | | Mothers, Bobbie Rosencrans |
| - MS, | | | | If you have experienced one or more of these |
| - Fibromyalgia, | | | | 'symptoms' you could be a physical or sexual abuse |
| - Lupus | | | | survivor. |
| - Chronic back pain-L3, L4 and/or L5 region | | | | Healing the emotional wounds of physical or sexual |
| - Cancer-predominately-vaginal, cervical or ovarian in | | | | abuse is possible. Talk therapy, antidepressants and |
| women; testicular, prostate in men; however cancer | | | | or antipsychotic drugs are inadequate to uncover the |
| of any kind can be as a result of physical or sexual | | | | emotional pain, and heal the trauma trapped in |
| abuse. Cancer is anger/rage turned against the self. | | | | muscles and tissue. To fully appreciate the depth of |
| - Prostitute/promiscuous sex, | | | | this pain, I will quote one of my clients, "Even my |
| - Inability to orgasm | | | | blood hurts." A multifaceted healing process |
| - Dissociative Identity Disorder-MPD | | | | specifically focused on physical and sexual abuse |
| - Self-injury-self-abuse, self-mutilation (cutting, burning, | | | | recovery and diligent work is the most effective; |
| breaking bones, pinching skin, ingesting, injecting and | | | | wherein the survivor can replenish their emotional and |
| inserting foreign materials, interfering with the healing | | | | spiritual identity and empowerment. |