Insomnia is a common problem for people that suffer or have suffered from physical abuse. This is can be caused by fear, stress, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and inability to let go of what happened in the past. A person may be afraid to go to sleep because they may have very vivid dreams about being physical abused. Insomnia can make a person find it very hard to function during the day as
Also, if a person (within the family or outside the family of a disabled child or young person) has inappropriate thoughts or sexual addiction, then it might lead to abuse. The disabled children could find it difficult to communicate or talk about the abuse to others and report it; which makes it even harder to spot the abuse and solve
A victim of rape (primary victimisation), for example, may be subjected to victim blaming and ostracism as the result of the attack; those who become disabled (primary victimisation) may be subjected to non-accommodation, medicalization, and segregation; and those who develop mental disorder (primary victimisation) may be subject to institutionalisation, that in each case may be far more victimising to these individuals and limiting of their life opportunity than the primary victimising stigmatic condition itself, and are thus called secondary victimisation. The disregards of victims’ needs following a crime against them can sometimes be so traumatic that it is called the “second rape” (in the case of rape) or “second assault”. Victims will feel let down and isolated by the criminal justice body, the medical body and any other institution that is meant to help them, but instead causes the victim in certain cases to start believing that it was in fact their fault or that they had a hand in causing the crime. During the court process, secondary victimisation takes place at various levels. Examples of this are where the victim is not afforded private waiting or report-taking facilities.
The social dynamics of school, puberty, life at home, and many other factors affect the psyche of teens during this time in their life both positively and negatively. Some of these transitions cause emotional instability in the lives of adolescents, spiraling some into depression. When dealing with major depression, antidepressants are often used to help the adolescent cope by creating a feeling of balance. There is debate on adolescents using antidepressants. Stephen Barlas reports in Psychiatric Times that antidepressants are found to cause “possible suicidal ideation and suicide attempts as side effects” (2006).
In this phase the victim struggles with the realization of what has happened, that they have been raped, and they slowly begin to accept it. However this makes their feelings turn into revenge and anger toward the rapist, or sometimes they may become angry with themselves. They often may begin to question how they could have let it happen and most often place the blame on themselves. These feelings tend to die down however most seem to hold them all on the inside afterwards causing a lot of psychological pain. Generally, rape survivors report feeling powerless, shock, guilt, depression, anxiety, shame, embarrassment, and disbelief during this phase.
Social isolation, poor housing, unemployment and poverty are all linked to mental ill health. So stigma and discrimination can trap people in a cycle of illness. The situation is exacerbated by the media. Media reports often link mental illness with violence, or portray people with mental health problems as dangerous, criminal, evil, or very disabled and unable to live normal, fulfilled lives. 2.2 How mental illness can have an impact on the individual: Psychologically: - person may become paranoid and therefore exclude him or her self -person may become paranoid and therefore hurt others who she/he fears will try to hurt him/her -person may become isolated and therefore out of touch with other people and reality in general -person may feel unloved even if it is not true -person may feel like he/she is a threat to society and therefore attempt suicide emotionally: -person may feel isolated, unloved, paranoid, panicked and non-human (read Francis Kafka's The Metamorphosis)
Some forms of abuse are used more in the elder years then younger years due to different circumstances. For example neglect in care home or domestic abuse in the home. Types of abuse experienced by adults • Physical • Sexual • Emotional • Psychological • Neglect • Exploitation • Bullying • Domestic abuse • Institutional abuse • Discrimination Sexual Abuse Sexual assault/abuse is a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat. With sexual abuse it is important to know if the victim said no. If the victim did not say no or fight against what actions were taken against them then in a sense they have consented to the actions taken on them.
Effects on Mental Health. Being a victim of discrimination can have serious effects on an individual's mental health. Studies show that harassment and abuse contribute to the increased risk of mental illness in gay people. Victims are also at higher risk of substance use compared to heterosexual men and women. Often times, victims use drugs to "divert" and "distract" themselves from all the things they see, hear and experience.
Trauma is one of the most leading causes of brain malfunction and death worldwide, and therefore making it a serious public health problem with significant social and economic cost involvement. A child that has been molested will show signs and a symptom of the negative effects of sexual abuse to the child’s thinking. Some common symptoms are poor self-esteem, depression, anxiety, animal and human cruelty, and suicide. As research shows, traumatic stress caused by sexual abuse causes remarkable alteration in brain functioning and development. This could mean that sexual molestation can result in both short-term and long-term harm including mental illness like autism and bipolar personality disorder in later life.
Individuals with a history of being sexually abused, including those who go on to develop dissociative identity disorder, are vulnerable to abusing alcohol as a negative way of coping with their victimization. People with DID are also at risk for attempting suicide more than once. Violent behavior has a high level of association with dissociation as well. Other debilitating outcomes of DID, like that of other severe chronic mental illnesses, include inability to obtain and maintain employment, poor relationships with others, and therefore overall lower productivity and quality of life. Dissociative Identity Disorder At A Glance * Dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly called multiple personality disorder, is an illness that is characterized by the presence of at least two clear personality states, which may have different reactions, emotions, and body functioning.