Experiencing abuse in any of its many forms can have long-term negative effects on your mental health as well as your physical health. In the aftermath of abuse or speaking up about it, it is important for sexual abuse victims not to neglect their emotional wellbeing. There are plenty of resources out there for abuse victims to get the mental health support they need.
Talk to Your Friends and Family About Abuse
Telling people about what has happened to you is often very difficult and emotional. If you have friends or family members who will be able to support you emotionally while you deal with the impact of the abuse, it is important to tell them. You don’t have to disclose the full details of your abuse if you don’t want to, but you should let them know what they can do.
For example, if they can just lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on without passing judgement, ask them if they can do this for you. Talking about it is necessary so that you can set boundaries to help with your recovery. This could be asking them to avoid touching you or explicitly asking for physical comfort, or them reassuring you that it was not your fault.
Call a Mental Health Helpline for Abuse Survivors
Though having a support system of understanding people around you is vital, you should be aware that helping you through this will also be difficult for your loved ones. They most likely will not be experts about abuse or how to handle it, no matter how much they would like to help. This is why you should contact a mental health helpline if you need to talk specifically about your mental health as an abuse survivor. Here are some examples of mental health helplines which can provide services and signpost you to further mental health resources:
- Victim Support (for witnesses or victims of abusive crime)
- NAPAC (for adult survivors of any type of child abuse)
- Childline (confidential counselling for children up to 18)
- Young Minds (mental health guidance for young people)
- Mankind (counselling for male victims of sexual abuse)
- Respond (mental health support for people with learning difficulties)
- The Survivors Trust (network of national and local UK support organisations)
These organisations can supply helpful information, including guidance on how to report abuse to authorities and the police, and how to make abuse claims for compensation.
Speak with a Specialist Counsellor or Therapist
There are confidential helplines from the organisations above which you can use whenever you need to vent or work through your current emotions and mental issues. In the long-term, it may be best for you to seek specialist counselling or therapy. If you speak to a GP about your mental health problems but do not disclose information about your abuse, they might simply prescribe medication for depression or anxiety, which won’t address the real cause.
Talking about how you feel and what has happened to you is one of the most straightforward ways to confront it and move on from it. The best way to ensure that you do this properly and safely is by attending regular sessions with an accredited Exton counselor. In the UK you can speak to your GP and they should be able to refer you to free counselling services in partnership with the NHS. It is possible that there is a long waiting list for this, so you may have to ask for alternatives too.
If you can afford to pay for private therapy, then you can search for a counsellor yourself to find one who is specially trained regarding your type of abuse and mental health experience. Check with your workplace or school if applicable, as they may provide their own services. Support organisations and charities may also offer low-cost talking therapy without the NHS waiting times. You can find out more about how and where to find a therapist in the UK here.