Friday Night Thoughts
Another week has come to an end. I have spent a lot of time this past week talking about abuse. It is disheartening to know that so may people have been abused. In addition, this has profoundly affected their lives. The work in treatment is helping them move forward.
There are multiple forms of abuse including physical, sexual and psychological abuse. There is also neglect which is a form of abuse. It is generally easy to recognized abuse when there are physical manifestations. However, when there are more subtle forms of abuse or there is psychological abuse it can be harder to detect. Also those who have been abused are reluctant to come forward due to fear of the abuser and/or shame. Therefore, abuse can go on for extended periods of time and lead to such issues as mental illness, substance abuse, problems with self esteem or poor relationships. While we are working hard to provide treatment, the answer is prevention.
