I found myself reading this interview with Dr. Mary Koss recently, and while I’m not 100% sure about the prospect of “Restorative Justice”, as she refers to it, I think that often, when we think about child sexual abuse, we fall into the same misconceptions about the legal system that she refers to when talking more broadly about sexual assault.
Namely, that the legal system is not really designed to assist with the healing of a victim.
The study looked at the fact that among girls who had been sexually abused, there are marked increases in mental health diagnosis, and also physical health issues like urinary tract infections, etc. I think either of these is a possibility, maybe even both are true for different survivors. But, I also know that I’m looking…
Athlete A: What it Teaches Us… and Fails to Teach Us About Sexual Violence Against Children
‘Things will get better’: How talking about his mental health changed Jed’s life
Raising Awareness About Suicide Prevention
Suicide In The United States: Alarming Facts And Statistics
Suicide Awareness in the LGBTQIA+ Community
Podcasts About Mental Health
When Your Friend Has Schizophrenia
The thing I suspect many people worry about, and something that makes me crazy to be honest, is when people see “abuse victim”, or especially “sexual abuse victim”, and their brain immediately takes the shortcut to everything society says about that label. Being a survivor of childhood abuse is not “one” thing, but having your identity boiled down to that “one” thing, is dehumanizing. This is especially true when the stereotypes that we believe about survivors, don’t match who we really are!
How To Live With Someone Else’s Mental Illness
PTSD Physical Symptoms Can Be Confounding for Sexual Assault Survivors
Growing up I Often Heard “Therapy Is for White People”
How the Pandemic Is Taking Its Toll on Our Mental Health
One mental health solution: a kinder, gentler emergency department for people considering suicide
Nearly three in four child abuse survivors without support, study finds
Suicide After Suicide: What We Must Do to Break the Cycle
Why Abused Children May Strive for Perfection
One of the lessons that should be required learning for many of us, is that even with family, we get to set boundaries. We get to decide how much, or how little, we interact with other human beings. Also, what I decide is the way I want to set my boundaries, doesn’t mean yours need to be the same. As Carly lays out in the article below, there are quite a few things to consider, but it is your decision, and you should always put your own mental health first.
