Research and clinical practice suggest that there is probably no area that is not marked by the trauma of sexual abuse. Even if the consequences do not appear immediately, it does not mean that they do not exist. They often show up over the years, and sometimes they are even unconsciously transmitted to next generations. The family of origin certainly greatly mitigates or increases the impact of abuse, but how long and intense the influence will be and in which areas it will manifest depends on the individual. This article will focus primarily on the link between childhood sexual abuse and self-image, body and health. In this context, we will describe psychosomatic health problems and negative behaviors affecting health and relation to the body that the abused are faced with in their everyday lives.
COBISS.SI-ID: 8251226
In every case of violence, it primarily stems from the internal-organic arousal of the aggressive partner for whom this arousal is unbearable, therefore he unconsciously waits for the moment to find an external facilitator, partner or addressee that enables him to regulate it by being the target of his unbearable inner tension. This is a process in which the violent partner continually creates chronic forms of violent cycles of physical abuse, which are repeated over and over again until he takes responsibility for his violence.
COBISS.SI-ID: 8284506
Very early in childhood, relational trauma can lead to affect dysregulation in two directions: while intense fear determines the dysregulation of the brain system responsible for flight, uncontrolled aggression means the dysregulation of the brain centre responsible for fight. Both systems send the message of dysregulation in the autonomic nervous system. In both cases, there is a dysregulation of sympathetic arousal that exceeds the individual’s ability to cope with stress in a functional and effective manner. In other words, the flight response is triggered by immense fear, and the fight response is caused by intense anger and rage, which is functional in a normal response to trauma, while in the case of a dysregulated psycho-organic system it indicates a disorder that can have long-term consequences. These disorders can occur at a very early stage, in children who are at the time exposed to severe stress situations; this can lead to changes in the child’s neurobiological system, which may later become a source of psychopathology.
COBISS.SI-ID: 8332634