Causes of PTSD: Sexual violence

Causes of PTSD: Sexual violence

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the many devastating outcomes of sexual violence. The connection makes total sense, as sexual violence is both stressful and traumatic. Survivors may face years—if not a lifetime—of recovery after suffering sexual violence, in part because of persistent symptoms of PTSD.

One definition of sexual violence is “sexual activity when consent is not obtained or freely given.” This encompasses virtually any act you would consider a sexual violation. Every survivor matters. Whether or not you believe you have PTSD, hire a sexual abuse attorney to demand justice from those who are liable for your abuse.

Examining the Link Between Sexual Violence and PTSD

There is a well-established causal relationship between sexual violence and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some relevant findings include:

• Sexual assault is associated with higher rates of PTSD than other types of trauma (like a car accident)
• PTSD tends to be both common and severe among survivors of sexual violence
• Early support—which an attorney can both provide and facilitate—is instrumental to recovery from PTSD related to sexual violence 

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a potentially debilitating condition. Its symptoms may affect you emotionally, psychologically, and physically. This means that every aspect of your life may be disrupted by your PTSD symptoms.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Can Affect Sexual Violence Survivors of All Ages

Sexual abuse and sexual violence are often discussed in relation to society’s most vulnerable, including children. The fact remains, though, that virtually anyone can become a survivor of sexual violence.

An estimated 41 percent of women and 26 percent of men experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner during their life. There are even more victims who suffer sexual violence at the hands of strangers, coaches, other authority figures, relatives, and others who think nothing of the harm they are causing.

Whether someone is impaired, in a compromised position, or fully alert, sexual violence can happen without a second’s notice. If you or a loved one have been violated by an abuser—whether or not you think of them that way—you are entitled to justice.

How PTSD and Other Symptoms of Sexual Abuse May Affect Your Life

Some of the most disruptive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are:

• Intrusive memories: You may be unable to shake memories of sexual violence that have caused your PTSD. This can be one of the most difficult barriers to recovery, but you can reduce or better manage these intrusive memories with targeted treatment.
• Avoidance of triggers: Those with post-traumatic stress disorder might actively avoid triggers. A trigger may be something that reminds them of their trauma or merely anything that causes them stress or discomfort. This is a problematic symptom because it may compel a survivor to limit their life (and quality of life).
• Severe mood and personality changes: Sexual violence and the PTSD it can cause take a toll on the survivor. You may not be as optimistic, light-hearted, or able to enjoy life due to the symptoms of PTSD—symptoms you are only facing because of the person who abused you.
• Abnormal psychological, emotional, and physical reactions: You may not feel like yourself when you are in the throes of PTSD. You might be irritable, quick to anger, depressed, anxious, jittery, and suffering other symptoms that you had not before the instance(s) of sexual violence.

These and other PTSD symptoms can have a profound, negative effect on the survivor’s life. You may:

• Feel a constant sense of dread and anxiety
• Be less comfortable socializing, which is vital to our health and wellbeing
• Consider self-harm
• Lose sleep, which can be immensely detrimental to physical, psychological, and emotional health
• Suffer professionally and financially because you are not yourself
• Resort to self-medication, which may mean substance misuse
• Lose or suffer harm to relationships that are important to you

Experienced sex abuse attorneys have seen these symptoms and challenges firsthand in survivors of sexual violence. A life with untreated PTSD is not the life you deserve. Allow a sex abuse lawyer to speak with you, evaluate PTSD and other harm you’ve suffered due to sexual violence, and demand a financial recovery that can facilitate your recovery.

PTSD May Be Just One of Several Damages Survivors Deserve Compensation For

One of your sex abuse attorney’s most important priorities will be to document the harm you’ve suffered due to the abuser’s actions. These damages will likely be both financial and non-economic in nature and should capture the whole story of how sexual violence has impacted you.

Some damages that are often included in sexual violence cases include:

Pain and Suffering (Including PTSD Symptoms)

PTSD provides more than enough pain and suffering for one person to handle. Yet, while PTSD includes several distinct symptoms (like depression and mood changes), it may be just one of several forms of pain and suffering you endure. You might also deserve compensation for:

• Lost quality of life
• Difficulty sleeping
• The chronic fear that often afflicts survivors of sexual violence
• Physical pain

Your sex abuse lawyer will ensure you get a thorough evaluation of your pain and suffering. They will also ensure you’re comfortable with such an evaluation and that providers treat you with care and compassion.

Medical Expenses

Sexual violence and physical injury are also closely linked. The sexual violence itself may cause injury. You may also suffer serious physical complications resulting from the anxiety and other symptoms of PTSD.

Your lawyer will demand compensation to cover all medical costs tied to sexual violence.

The Cost of Treatment for Psychological and Emotional Symptoms

For most survivors, recovery from sexual violence takes work. While the reward of healing is worth the investment, treatment can cost a substantial sum. Your lawyer will seek compensation for all of your treatment, which may include:

• PTSD-specific counseling
• Sexual violence counseling
• General therapy
• Exposure therapy
• Medication

Each survivor needs and deserves a personalized treatment plan. The emotional and psychological effects of sexual violence are often more debilitating than physical injuries. This fact makes it critical that your attorney secures compensation covering all treatment for psychological and emotional symptoms.

Career-Related Losses

Depression, anxiety, sleep loss, and other symptoms associated with PTSD may:

• Limit the type of work someone with PTSD can do.
• Decrease the survivor’s earning power. 
• Cause temporary or permanent disability.
• Prevent the survivor from accessing benefits, overtime pay, and other perks that many employees receive when they can work without limitation.

Harm from sexual violence can be all-encompassing. On the other hand, this means that any financial recovery your sex abuse lawyer secures may benefit virtually every aspect of your life.

Those Who Suffer Sexual Violence Deserve an Advocate, Let a Lawyer Be Yours 

Whether or not the person who perpetrated sexual violence against you faces criminal charges, you should hire a sexual abuse and assault lawyer. Criminal proceedings are necessary, but they can only achieve so much.

Survivors deserve direct support to cover their economic and non-economic damages, and that’s what you seek when you hire an attorney. Allow an attorney to fight for you because:

• Survivors deserve justice, period. The fact is that survivors deserve justice. Lawyers’ job is to get justice for those survivors. It’s that simple.
• You may have a time-consuming recovery ahead of you: Whether or not you are suffering from PTSD, survivors of sexual violence must recover. Each survivor’s recovery regimen and timetable are unique, but every survivor should put their all into healing. The demands of your case should not take away from your recovery, which is why you should trust your case with an attorney.
• You don’t need to be re-exposed to details of sexual violence (but you do deserve justice): You deserve justice, in this case, a fair financial recovery. The problem is that getting justice means addressing the details of sexual violence head-on. It’s generally best for survivors’ health to let their lawyer represent them in legal proceedings, as this may prevent a step back in your recovery.
• This is familiar territory for an experienced lawyer: There is value in experience. An experienced sexual violence lawyer will have represented others in lawsuits resulting from circumstances like yours. Having a lawyer’s advice and guidance can provide peace of mind as well as tangible benefits for your case.

Survivors can be hesitant to ask for help, even when they’re in the midst of horrific circumstances. Now, an attorney is offering their assistance. All you have to do is accept.

How Sexual Abuse and Assault Lawyers Serve Survivors

Your attorney will take every detail of your case off your hands. Lawyers generally help survivors of sexual violence by:

Presenting Their Options

Many survivors of sexual abuse aren’t sure what “justice” looks like in the civil context. Your lawyer will explain.

Expect your attorney to discuss what damages you can receive compensation for, how they plan to obtain that compensation for you, and what the process ahead may look like. They will cover everything you need to know.

Lending Their Advice

Attorneys toe a fine line when representing survivors of abuse, as they recognize that:

• It’s the client’s case, so the client deserves to have the primary voice in many case-related decisions and aspects
• As an attorney, they have valuable experience, insights, and advice the client deserves to hear
• Ultimately, a sexual violence case is a collaborative effort between the client and the attorney

Your lawyer will offer the perspectives and advice in a compassionate way that makes clear: This is your case, but I want you to have complete information before you make an important decision.

Proving the Sexual Violence (and Establishing Liability for the Survivor’s Damages)

The standard of evidence in a civil case is generally the “preponderance of evidence.” This means your lawyer will need to prove it’s “more likely than not” that the defendant perpetrated sexual violence and that you’ve suffered harm as a result.

Your lawyer will actively seek and utilize all evidence at their disposal. This evidence may include witness testimony, expert testimony, your testimony, reports from law enforcement officials, and other proof of the sexual violence you’re now suffering from.

Documenting the Survivor’s Damages

Damages are central to almost every civil case. If your attorney can prove you’ve suffered certain damages, you should receive compensation for those damages.

Your attorney may prove your damages using:

• Medical records
• Expert testimony about the physical, psychological, emotional, and financial toll the violence has taken on you
• Detailed evaluations of PTSD and other types of pain and suffering
• Medical bills
• Relevant financial records

Because the effects of sexual violence can impact virtually every aspect of your life, documentation of your damages will reflect the devastation such violence imposes.

Fighting for the Financial Recovery the Survivor Deserves

Your lawyer’s ultimate goal and responsibility is to obtain compensation reflecting your damages. They may secure this compensation by negotiating a settlement. They may instead need to file a lawsuit and take your case to court.

Justice and accountability are the collective mission when you hire a sexual violence attorney.

Taking Literally Every Other Aspect of the Case Off the Client’s Hands

Trust that attorneys understand how heavy a burden sexual violence can place on the survivor. Your legal team won’t ask you to do anything case-related unless you are literally the only person who can do it.

You may need to share your account of violence with your lawyer, but your legal team will take care of literally everything else.

Your Financial Recovery Can Directly Facilitate Your Psychological, Emotional, and Personal Recovery

By securing compensation from those who are liable for the sexual violence you endured, you will:

• Hold the abuser and any other liable parties responsible for their harmful actions.
• Get the compensation you need for medical care, mental health services, and other resources that will facilitate your recovery.
• Receive compensation reflecting the immense psychological and emotional toll you’ve endured.
• Hopefully, you will be better able to move forward from the effects of the violence.

Do Not Wait to Hire Your Attorney. 

There can be deadlines for civil sexual violence cases, and missing the deadline could stop your case for justice before it starts.