Sexual harassment or assault can disrupt a person’s mental, emotional, and physical health. While the physical pain and sufferings are visible to the naked eyes, mental trauma is not always visible in a person.
However, the impact of emotional and mental suffering is more profound than physical injuries. Moreover, victims of sexual abuse also tend to isolate themselves, which can trigger various mental health issues.
A person must seek professional help after their ill experience. Moreover, they must also file a criminal case against the abuser by contacting an experienced sexual harassment attorney as soon as possible. This way, the attorney can take care of the legal procedures and complications while the victim can focus on healing and bettering themselves.
Nevertheless, some common mental and emotional health issues that sexual harassment victims go through.
- Depression
Depression is one of the most prevalent issues in sexual abuse victims. Most victims cannot easily forge the ill experience and end up having long-term depression. The victims cannot find meaning in life and are lost in their thoughts.
They do feel like doing things that they loved doing in the past. Moreover, their work efficiency decreases, and they lose the will to work. In extreme cases, victims try to attempt suicide or end their lives as they cannot move past the assault.
Victims often isolate themselves and cut out every from their social circle. Such victims must seek professional help immediately before their conditions deteriorate.
- Detachment
Victims of sexual abuse often experience a sense of emotional detachment from their close ones like friends, family, life partners, etc. They are often irritated by being around people and want to be left alone as they do not feel safe anywhere.
Emotional detachment can lead to long-term and profound damage to a person’s emotional health. The best way to treat emotional detachment is to go for therapy.
- Anxiety
Most sexual abuse victims show anxiety symptoms in them after the incident. They are triggered by little things and often have difficulty being in one place. Victims become extremely sensitive toward specific triggers and might have frequent panic attacks, anxiety attacks, etc.
Anxiety patients also experience nervousness and restlessness and cannot engage in social gatherings for long—other symptoms of anxiety are nausea, headaches, heart palpitations, etc.
Anxiety is a severe mental health condition that must be treated immediately. Although the treatment is long-term, Anxiety in sexual abuse victims is relatively high and requires professional help as soon as possible.
