10 Common Emotional Reactions
To Sexual Assault Trauma
and Their Symptoms

Shock:Dazed, robot-like, calm, hysterical, irrational, has the shakes.
Denial: Disbelief, demands details, accesses of lying, minimizes, memory blocks.
Confusion: Unable to answer simple questions or follow instructions: distortions.
Helplessness: Unable to make decisions, belief or being powerless, loss of autonomy.
Fear: Trigger response, believes threat of retaliation, unable to be alone, phobias.
Anger: Screams, cusses, makes demands, self destructive acts, hostile to police.
Guilt: Blames self, blames others, believes they caused the assault. "If only"-"I should have"-"Why didn't I/you..."
Shame:Embarrassed to discuss, doesn't want anyone to know, self-condemnation.
Isolation: Withdraws, stays in bed, won't talk.
Depression: Crying, lethargic, insomnia/hypersomnia, no appetite, lack of personal care, apathetic, CAN EVEN BECOME SUICIDAL.

ALL VICTIMS are likely to experience some-if not all, of these reactions to a certain degree, apathetic, of the severity of the impact.

ALL OF THESE EMOTIONS ARE NOMAL.  These emotions ARE NOT indication that the victim is emotionally unstable or not credible.

THE STRESS of these reactions is compounded because the victim does not understand what is happening, or what to expect in the future. He/She needs to be told that he/she is normal in an abnormal situation.

WITHOUT SUPPORT, the long-term impact of these reactions can lead to inability to function normally, and in the extreme, to death.

IT CAN TAKE a long time for a person to heal emotionally after a rape. Some people are strongly affected for a few months, others for years. Help him/her make decisions about counseling and support that will help with the healing process.

DON'T EXPECT him/her to just "get on" with life, or just "get over it." A survivor of a sexual assault will come to realize that the experience is something