The impact of violence against women is too often masked by silence. Its continuation depends on silence. Distance keeps us safe and unless one personally experiences violence or knows someone who has, many of us ...

I watched "Hawthorne" on TNT tonight. One of the story lines was about a woman who came into the ER with a broken arm and during the examination she was discovered to have many bruises ...

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the most difficult conditions for anyone to bear. Many who encounter life-threatening events or situations that threaten physical or emotional safety become burdened by a variety of intense ...

The best and most obvious way to stop bullying in schools is for parents to change the way they parent their children at home. Of course, this is much easier said than done and ...

Sandy's mother, Lily, is beside herself. "I didn't notice anything was wrong all winter," she said. "Oh, she was quieter than usual and her grades weren't the best. But we moved last fall and I ...

Flashbacks are memories of past traumas. They may take the form of pictures, sounds, smells, body sensations, feelings, or the lack of them (numbness). Many times there is no actual ...

A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her/his original trauma. Triggers are very personal; different things trigger different people. ...

It's a silent problem. While newspapers and TV news shows regularly highlight stories of child physical and sexual abuse, the companion problem, child neglect, hardly gets a mention. Neglect, unless accompanied by pictures of squalor ...

My first memory of emotional abuse was when I was three years old. Mum left me with the next door neighbour who was the local flasher. He didn't think anything of showing himself to ...

Rape by an acquaintance is often even more traumatizing than rape by a stranger. First of all, it represents a violation of trust. Secondly, victims may not get the social support they need and deserve. While ...

Did you know that bad things that have happened to you in your life can cause or worsen psychiatric symptoms? More and more research confirms the strong connection between traumatic life events and psychiatric symptoms. ...

The cause of antisocial personality disorder, or ASP, is unknown. Like many mental health issues, evidence points to inherited traits. But dysfunctional family life also increases the likelihood of ASP. So although ASP may have ...

Trauma survivors with PTSD often experience problems in their intimate and family relationships or close friendships. PTSD involves symptoms that interfere with trust, emotional closeness, communication, responsible assertiveness, and effective problem solving: Loss of interest in ...

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare. Depending on the study, it is estimated that from 60 to 90 percent of women with an intellectual disability will be sexually exploited or abused in the course of their ...

Abuse refers to harmful or injurious treatment of another human being that may include physical, sexual, verbal, psychological/emotional, intellectual, or spiritual maltreatment. Abuse may coexist with neglect, which is defined as failure to meet a ...