My name is Luka.

[cyrano]

And asking for information from my psychology-inclined friends about childhood abuse and its long lasting effects.

I'm working on a fictional character who was sexually abused as a child by a neighbor, and I've been poking around the net looking for descriptions of behaviors that tend to show up in adult survivors. I failed my Google fu, however, and haven't yet had much luck. Any pointers?

Comments

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

It can depend somewhat on how extensive and long-lasting the abuse was. Was this once or twice, or a consistent thing for awhile?

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Consistent, probably for a couple of years, but neither severe nor frequent.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Mmyeah. That'd leave some mental scars, although not as strongly as if it'd been familial abuse. The acting out stuff would probably be happening, yes.

Low self-esteem, difficulty with sex (in some way or another-- the overactive sex drive thing is just as hard as the low sex drive and/or flashbacks thing.) Difficulty with relationships. (That's a big one, often.)

Flashbacks. (These can be visual, auditory, tactile... whatever.)

The somatization is pretty frequent. (That is, making your psychic pain physical.)

Jess' second link is good. Her first one is excellent.