Child Sexual Abuse
Alternate Names : Child Molestation
What are the treatments for the injury?
Child protective services monitor sexual abuse cases. Sexually abused children
and their families need professional evaluation and treatment. Child and
adolescent psychiatrists can help abused children regain a sense of
self-esteem.
They can help them cope with their feelings of guilt about the abuse and begin
the process of overcoming the trauma. Individual
psychotherapy and group counseling may help. Much of
the healing for many survivors takes place in a support group of other
survivors.
There is strength, comfort, and hope in hearing the stories of others who share
their pain.
Antidepressant medicines may be tried, but they are not usually
as successful in treating
depression in children as they are in adolescents and
adults.
The child should be checked for
sexually transmitted diseases. Girls of
childbearing age should be tested for pregnancy.
What are the side effects of the treatments?
Antidepressant medicines may cause mild and usually temporary side effects in
some people. The most common side effects are:
agitation
constipation
dizziness
drowsiness
dry mouth
nausea
A person on antidepressant medicines needs to have blood levels monitored
frequently.
What happens after treatment for the injury?
Long-term effects can include posttraumatic stress
disorder. Although this nervous disorder can have many causes, in
this case it is a result of physical, mental, or sexual violence. The victim
may have the following conditions:
depression
feelings of anxiety
feelings of isolation
irritability
nightmares and flashbacks
a tendency to avoid other people
Children who have been sexually abused usually develop low self-esteem, a
feeling of worthlessness, and an abnormal perspective on sexuality. They may
become withdrawn and mistrustful of adults and attempt suicide. Some sexually
abused children become child abusers or prostitutes in later years. They are
more at risk of abusing alcohol or other drugs to dull the pain.
A person who has been sexually abused may need years of psychotherapy to come
to terms with what has happened. Therapy is most often long-term. It can be
difficult for an adult to come to terms with sexual abuse that occurred when he
or she was a child. It may result in changes in the abused person's life. In
some cases, divorce results when a spouse can't live with a partner's pain and
becomes frustrated at not being able to do anything about it.
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