Category Archives: Trauma & Abuse

The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Sexual abuse is defined by the American Psychological Association as unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent. The month of April, 2012 has been designated as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, so we here at Destination Hope: The Women’s Program felt this was a perfect time to bring this issue out of the dark and into the forefront of relevant conversation where it belongs. Read More

PTSD Treatment Highlighted as 50 Percent of Women Experience Trauma

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

PTSD treatment in its original form was designed to help men. Post traumatic stress disorder was originally thought to be a mental health condition that solely affected veterans returning from war. It wasn’t until psychologists examining female sexual assault victims started noticing a lot of similarities between these two seemingly different groups of people did we as a society begin to understand the degree that women were also affected by PTSD. PTSD is not predicated on age, gender, socioeconomic class, education, culture or anything like that. PTSD is only dependent on one thing, and that’s an individual experiencing a trauma. Modern day PTSD treatment is reflective of those changes and realizations about the disorder. Read More

Sexual Abuse and Substance Abuse

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Sexual abuse and drugs and alcohol have a very complicated, intertwined relationship. They have much in common in the sense that sexual violence and addiction can happen to anybody and cross all racial, socioeconomic and cultural boundaries. Substance abuse and sexual assault also carry what most would agree is an unjust social stigma placed on those who experience either. In many instances, being a victim of a sexual assault can be a causal effect of an individual’s downward spiral into drug addiction and alcoholism. At the same time, substance abuse can be part of a group of behaviors that makes an individual more likely to be a victim of sexual abuse. Below we will explore the various cause and effect relationship possibilities between sexual abuse and substance abuse. Read More