![]() ![]() ![]() Remember: the only person to blame is the perpetrator. Re-framing or changing this message of belief can lessen the trauma. It also reinforces the message that they did something wrong or that there is something wrong with them. Unfortunately, self-blame or beating ourselves up takes away one of the biggest possible sources of support, which is ourselves. Survivors may blame themselves for what happened or beat themselves up for how they acted or looked, what they said or didn’t say, what they did or didn’t do, and more. SELF-BLAME causes trauma. People are often harder on themselves than anyone else could be, and this is especially true after a sexual assault. The same might be true for a person who is surprised by a sexual assault. Your belief that you are safe walking down the street has been damaged. You feel agitated any time you leave your house, and whenever you walk down the street, you feel like you have to be alert to any possible pianos. You know that getting hit by a falling piano is unlikely to happen again, but since one impossible incident already happened to you, you start to feel like it can happen again any time. You don’t want that to ever happen again, so you might start to feel afraid to go back to that same street, or even to similar streets. You had no way to expect that you would be hit by a falling piano - there were no warnings, no signs, nothing. SURPRISE ATTACKS cause trauma. Imagine you are walking down the street when a piano falls out of a building and crashes onto you. ![]() In the aftermath of such an experience, a survivor might be reminded of what happened by what is sometimes called a “trigger.” “Triggers” are different for every person, but generally they might be certain sensory reminders (like a smell or a feeling) that cause the person to relive their assault. It’s like the experience is imprinted on their mind, maybe for a period of time and maybe forever. If that kind of betrayal has happened, a survivor might feel less comfortable trusting people in the future.ĮXTREME FEAR or TERROR causes trauma. If a person experiences extreme fear or terror, like being afraid for their life or unable to control what is happening to their body, they are likely to carry that feeling with them for a while. When people violate those expectations by harming us, we may feel betrayed. Most people expect that we won’t be hurt by the people who we love and trust. Here are some factors that can cause trauma and have particular significance in the aftermath of sexual assault:īETRAYAL causes trauma. If one person has access to plenty of support and gets the care they need, they may have an easier time healing than a person who does not have any support and doesn’t get care. Even if two people experience the same traumatic event, they will each respond to their trauma differently. The feeling and impact in the aftermath of such an event are known as “trauma.” Though trauma is an experience that all people can share, each person experiences it differently. ![]() Post-Traumatic Stress and the Process of HealingĪ life-shattering event shocks the body and mind and leaves a person changed. ![]()
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