You Can Overcome Child Sexual Abuse
If anything triggers you while reading this article, please, spend a few minutes doing deep breathing.
Many people walk into adulthood as childhood trauma survivors. One of the most common forms of childhood trauma is abuse, namely child sexual abuse. About one in 10 children will be sexually abused before they turn 18. And that is only what we know about. Only around 38 percent of child victims report they have been sexually abused. The true statistics are likely higher.
When people think of sexual assault they think of it happening to women, and while it does, it is more likely to happen to a child. The truth is that children have a higher rate of sexual assault than adults do. Almost 70 percent of all reported sexual assaults happen to children 17 years old and younger.
The damage sexual abuse causes
Child sexual abuse causes deep psychological damage. It also causes damage to the brain, resulting in some victims developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, about seven or eight of every 100 people will have PTSD at some point in their lives, and about eight million adults have PTSD during any given year. Of course, that is only people who have reported having PTSD. As with child sexual abuse, the rates are likely much higher.
Recovery from childhood sexual abuse is possible
I started this site as a way to seek answers for myself, to find relief from PTSD. Know, dear reader, that the difficult symptoms of PTSD, things like depression and anxiety, that you deal with are caused by damage in your brain. And that damage is 100 percent reversible. I am not just talking about God’s awesome power to heal but also scientific proof that our brains can change.
You can heal. You are not doomed to spend the rest of your life affected by the awful and powerful symptoms that arise. You will not always wake up gripped by fear and anxiety, dreading the thought of one more day in emotional hell. You will not always struggle to get to sleep at night and have the sleep you do get be far less than adequate.
You will make it to the other side of trauma. You will overcome. You are not just a survivor of childhood trauma, but an overcomer. Begin right now to tell yourself, “I am an overcomer. I will overcome PTSD.”
If this article can give you anything, I pray that it gives you hope that you can recover. May the God who created you empower you to believe that recovery is not only possible but it is His ordained plan for your life.
If you are ready to recover from child sexual abuse, pray this prayer:
Oh Lord, I lift myself to You, the One who can heal me. I ask You to guide me as I seek recovery. I know that in You there is hope. Please, empower me and help me to see that I am an overcomer.
Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay
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