I need an extensive response to this question.  What are the
psychological effects on a victim of sexual assault after it occurs,
from time zero and onward?  What are the stages a victim goes through
as time unfolds?  What does it feel like to get up the next day?  What
are the first few days like, especially if the victim is in proximity
to the perpetrator during those days?  Is a victim even functional in
the first few days?  When do symptoms of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder) set in?  How are PTSD, disassociation, and other phenomena
involved in the aftermath?  How soon can they suppress conscious
knowledge of the attack and allow it to fester unknowingly?

I need this answered by Saturday, April 17th, 2004.

---

Clarification of Question by jayachenn-ga on 15 Apr 2004 10:39 PDT

The deadline is up for discussion.  I may not need the information so
soon if it'll allow a more detailed answer.

Hi

The psychological effects of sexual assault are similar to those of
close combat, in terms of post traumatic stress. There is a sequence
of responses.

1. Intial overwhelming emotional response
2. Emotional supression
3. Emotional leakage
4. Emotional release.

The intial emotional response is overwhelming, but in the interests of
self preservation this response is supressed. The victim experiences
'emotional numbing'. All emotions are suppressed in order to function
and the victime feels emotionally 'dead' unable to feel any emotions.

Over time there is a gradual emotional 'leakage' as the person begins
to relieve the experience with progressively more emotional intensity,
relasing the emotions they have surpressed.

Finally there is complete emotional release and the person returns to
normal emotional reaction. The learned experience of being able to
supress ones emotions never leaves though and the person concerned can
generally 'turn there emotions off' under stress.

For an personal account of resolving 'Post Traumatic Stress' Winnie
Smith's 'A Daughter Goes to War' is hard to beat.

It can take up 20 years for full emotional release - some people never achieve it.

The central issue in both combat and sexual assualt is the conflict
between instinctive response and moral cultural experiences. The
emotional release of killing in close quarter battle is similar to the
emotional release in sex. These are instinctive responses, but in the
circumstances of warfare and rape this produce intense conflicts. It
is emotionally unbearable to know that you enjoyed killing and that
your body responded to a rapists.

Albanaich

Hi

The emotional numbing occurs almost immediately the incident, over a
period of a few days and weeks emotional control improves and the
person may appear to be 'ontop' of the situation.

They maybe able to discuss the events in great detail, but this gives
them no emotional release. An ability to describe events without
breaking down is a sign of severe PTSD.

With time the facade of control breaks down as 'emotional leakage'
occurs, this usually takes years and the person themselves may not
associate their gradual loss of emotional control with events that may
have taken place a deacade before.

Albanaich

jayachenn, although I have your answer from personal experience, I
cannot bear to 'bare all' in such a public forum.  I would have no
need to search the Internet for answers, I have lived the horror, more
than once.


Albanaich, your comments are incredibly accurate --ALL of them.  I
remember telling my therapist a story one day, and his utter dismay
that I was telling it in such a nonchalant fashion.  I finally
realized that had a friend of mine told me "my story" --I would be
horrified, ...but I seemed to have no feelings about what had happened
to myself...

Your paragraph here:

..."The central issue in both combat and sexual assualt is the conflict
between instinctive response and moral cultural experiences. The
emotional release of killing in close quarter battle is similar to the
emotional release in sex. These are instinctive responses, but in the
circumstances of warfare and rape this produce intense conflicts. It
is emotionally unbearable to know that you enjoyed killing and that
your body responded to a rapists..."

...is especially true.  I hardly believe you typed it. You didn't
mention the "emotionally unbearable" great burden of _shame_ by it's
name, I'm sure you are aware of it. I still struggle with this
dichotomy.

~~Cynthia