Former children's TV show host is linked to child abuse case
By Associated Press February 11, 2016
A California judge has determined that a man recently arrested in a San Diego suburb is a fugitive wanted in a 1979 child sexual abuse investigation in Louisiana, where he was a children's TV show host known as “Mr. Wonder.”
A San Diego County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday after a brief identity hearing.
Authorities say Frank John Selas III assumed a new identity in the San Diego area, where he often invited children to his house to swim and was a Cub Scout leader. He was arrested in January.
The ruling sets the stage for extradition proceedings to begin.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-childrens-tv-show-host-child-abuse-20160211-story.html
Study Links Child Abuse, Neglect to Earlier Onset of Bipolar Disorder HealthDay Feb. 11, 2016 By Robert Preidt
THURSDAY, Feb. 11, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- People with bipolar disorder who have a history of being abused or neglected as children may have more severe symptoms and a higher risk of suicide, new research suggests.
"Our findings have important implications for clinical practice, as they suggest that a history of childhood maltreatment could be used as an early indicator of high risk for poor outcomes among individuals with bipolar disorder," said study author Jessica Agnew-Blais, a postdoctoral researcher at King's College London in England.
"This information could be valuable for identifying patients with bipolar disorder who may benefit from greater support and treatment," she said in a college news release.
The researchers reviewed 30 studies. While they only found an association, rather than a cause-and-effect link, they said bipolar patients who suffered from neglect or physical, sexual or emotional abuse as children were more likely to have more severe manic, depressive and psychotic symptoms compared to those who weren't abused.
People with bipolar disorder who were abused as children also had a higher risk of anxiety disorders and substance and alcohol abuse disorders, the research showed.
Those abused as children developed bipolar symptoms more than four years earlier, the study found. They also were nearly four times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder. And they were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide as those who weren't mistreated during childhood, the researchers said.... The study was published Feb. 9 in The Lancet Psychiatry.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2016-02-11/study-links-child-abuse-neglect-to-earlier-onset-of-bipolar-disorder
Showing posts with label post-traumatic stress disorder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label post-traumatic stress disorder. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse scandal, Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault, study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
- Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse case
- Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
- Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
- UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse case
Associated Press August 12, 2015
(AP) — A top government official in eastern Pakistan says he has fired a provincial intelligence chief and three senior police officers for failing to act against a gang that blackmailed the families of children it sexually abused.
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, made the announcement late Tuesday on social media. It comes amid widening outrage over the child sex abuse scandal, which locals say involves more than 270 children.
Sharif said he had dispatched the province's police chief to ensure that "investigation is carried out without discrimination and local influence."
Sharif is the brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A lawyer for victims has accused local politicians and police of allowing the gang to operate for years, something authorities have denied.
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-police-officers-spy-fired-over-child-abuse-095041967.html
Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
By Sophia Saifi Wed August 12, 2015
Child sexual abuse ring busted in Pakistan
....Punjab province, Hussain Khan Wala is at the center of a child abuse scandal that has rocked the country.
Villagers accuse police officials of covering up a pedophile ring, after videos emerged of their children being molested by members of a prominent and influential local family.
They say the abuse had been going on since at least 2009, and that the children were blackmailed to steal from their homes to prevent the videos from going public.
"My child stopped going to school; whenever they saw him, they took him into the fields, in the house," the 35-year-old mother of one victim told CNN. "They raped him for five hours and now it's finally coming into the open."....
Lawyer and children's rights activist Latif Sera says more than 270 children were victims of the pedophile ring, whose members abused children in the fields and in their homestead, outside which, the words "No Entry" are painted in Urdu.
Sera said it was here that the children were drugged, abused and hung upside down naked from ropes.
Sexual abuse and blackmail
A deep well sits ominously in the house's entrance; villagers tell CNN the family would threaten to drown the children if they complained to their parents.
A 15-year-old boy filmed in one of the videos told CNN he was first raped at the age of nine, after he was approached by a man with a gun while collecting water for his grandfather.
"As soon as I went inside he locked the door. He called out and five more men came in. I started screaming and they covered my mouth. Each of them had a weapon - one had an axe. They said they would cut me into tiny pieces if I made a single sound. Then they raped me."
He said the abuse continued for another four years, during which time he stole to keep his attackers quiet.
"I stole jewelry and money for them, otherwise they said they would kill me and hyenas and dogs would eat my body," he explained. "I found $1,300 for them to leave me alone. I stole from my own home, my own family."
Punjab police say 14 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case. A gang of 20 to 25 people is believed to have been involved in the abuse....
On Tuesday, Punjab province's chief of police announced that the suspects wold be tried in a terrorism court to expedite the process. He said 3 police officials have been suspended pending an investigation....
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/asia/pakistan-child-sex-abuse-scandal-village/
Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
By Christine Pelisek 08/12/2015
Three more women have publicly come forward with accusations that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them in the 1970s and '80s. The three women, including an actress who appeared on The Cosby Show and the former wife of a vice president at the William Morris Agency, joined the more than 40 women who allege they were drugged, sexually assaulted or sexually harassed by the comedian.
At a press conference Wednesday, civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is now representing more than 21 accusers, said the three women are speaking out now to show their support for other accusers who have been criticized by Cosby's attorneys.
"There is no statute of limitations on free speech," says Allred. "A person who alleges that she or he is a victim can speak out at any time."
Cosby has consistently denied the allegations of sexual assault....
http://www.people.com/article/bill-cosby-new-accusers-sexual-assault-claims
UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
RDM News Wire 11 August, 2015
A study by a University of Cape Town (UCT) doctoral graduate has demonstrated a clear link between trauma exposure‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders - the first time that a scientific study has established this link.
These findings could be useful in designing interventions aimed at reducing the burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders‚ UCT said in a statement on Tuesday.
Using the data collected in the South African stress and health study‚ associate professor Lukoye Atwoli found that there was an association between trauma exposure and chronic physical conditions such as arthritis‚ cardiovascular disease‚ respiratory disease and chronic pain.
He also found a link between trauma exposure and other mental disorders‚ such as mood and anxiety disorder. Trauma exposure also increased the risk of chronic physical conditions such as chronic pain‚ cardiovascular and respiratory disease and arthritis....
http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2015/08/11/UCT-PhD-study-shows-link-between-trauma-exposure-and-physical-health
- Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
- Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
- UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
Pakistan police officers, spy fired over child abuse case
Associated Press August 12, 2015
(AP) — A top government official in eastern Pakistan says he has fired a provincial intelligence chief and three senior police officers for failing to act against a gang that blackmailed the families of children it sexually abused.
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, made the announcement late Tuesday on social media. It comes amid widening outrage over the child sex abuse scandal, which locals say involves more than 270 children.
Sharif said he had dispatched the province's police chief to ensure that "investigation is carried out without discrimination and local influence."
Sharif is the brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A lawyer for victims has accused local politicians and police of allowing the gang to operate for years, something authorities have denied.
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-police-officers-spy-fired-over-child-abuse-095041967.html
Inside the Pakistani village torn apart by child sex abuse scandal
By Sophia Saifi Wed August 12, 2015
Child sexual abuse ring busted in Pakistan
....Punjab province, Hussain Khan Wala is at the center of a child abuse scandal that has rocked the country.
Villagers accuse police officials of covering up a pedophile ring, after videos emerged of their children being molested by members of a prominent and influential local family.
They say the abuse had been going on since at least 2009, and that the children were blackmailed to steal from their homes to prevent the videos from going public.
"My child stopped going to school; whenever they saw him, they took him into the fields, in the house," the 35-year-old mother of one victim told CNN. "They raped him for five hours and now it's finally coming into the open."....
Lawyer and children's rights activist Latif Sera says more than 270 children were victims of the pedophile ring, whose members abused children in the fields and in their homestead, outside which, the words "No Entry" are painted in Urdu.
Sera said it was here that the children were drugged, abused and hung upside down naked from ropes.
Sexual abuse and blackmail
A deep well sits ominously in the house's entrance; villagers tell CNN the family would threaten to drown the children if they complained to their parents.
A 15-year-old boy filmed in one of the videos told CNN he was first raped at the age of nine, after he was approached by a man with a gun while collecting water for his grandfather.
"As soon as I went inside he locked the door. He called out and five more men came in. I started screaming and they covered my mouth. Each of them had a weapon - one had an axe. They said they would cut me into tiny pieces if I made a single sound. Then they raped me."
He said the abuse continued for another four years, during which time he stole to keep his attackers quiet.
"I stole jewelry and money for them, otherwise they said they would kill me and hyenas and dogs would eat my body," he explained. "I found $1,300 for them to leave me alone. I stole from my own home, my own family."
Punjab police say 14 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case. A gang of 20 to 25 people is believed to have been involved in the abuse....
On Tuesday, Punjab province's chief of police announced that the suspects wold be tried in a terrorism court to expedite the process. He said 3 police officials have been suspended pending an investigation....
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/12/asia/pakistan-child-sex-abuse-scandal-village/
Three More Women Come Forward to Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
By Christine Pelisek 08/12/2015
Three more women have publicly come forward with accusations that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them in the 1970s and '80s. The three women, including an actress who appeared on The Cosby Show and the former wife of a vice president at the William Morris Agency, joined the more than 40 women who allege they were drugged, sexually assaulted or sexually harassed by the comedian.
At a press conference Wednesday, civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is now representing more than 21 accusers, said the three women are speaking out now to show their support for other accusers who have been criticized by Cosby's attorneys.
"There is no statute of limitations on free speech," says Allred. "A person who alleges that she or he is a victim can speak out at any time."
Cosby has consistently denied the allegations of sexual assault....
http://www.people.com/article/bill-cosby-new-accusers-sexual-assault-claims
UCT PhD study shows link between trauma exposure and physical health
RDM News Wire 11 August, 2015
A study by a University of Cape Town (UCT) doctoral graduate has demonstrated a clear link between trauma exposure‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders - the first time that a scientific study has established this link.
These findings could be useful in designing interventions aimed at reducing the burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)‚ chronic physical conditions and other mental disorders‚ UCT said in a statement on Tuesday.
Using the data collected in the South African stress and health study‚ associate professor Lukoye Atwoli found that there was an association between trauma exposure and chronic physical conditions such as arthritis‚ cardiovascular disease‚ respiratory disease and chronic pain.
He also found a link between trauma exposure and other mental disorders‚ such as mood and anxiety disorder. Trauma exposure also increased the risk of chronic physical conditions such as chronic pain‚ cardiovascular and respiratory disease and arthritis....
http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2015/08/11/UCT-PhD-study-shows-link-between-trauma-exposure-and-physical-health
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Man claims he witnessed Dana Bradley murder, Disturbing Study Finds Women Actually Think Sexual Violence is Normal, Describing Abusive Behavior as "Young Love"
- Man claims he witnessed Dana Bradley murder
RCMP investigate, inform him no new evidence found
- ‘The guy is the real thing’
Doctor says man’s story of Dana Bradley murder shouldn’t be written off as false memory syndrome
- ‘There’s nothing left I can do,’ says man convinced he witnessed murder
- Disturbing Study Finds Women Actually Think Sexual Violence is Normal
- Normalizing Sexual Violence - Young Women Account for
Harassment and Abuse
- Describing Abusive Behavior as "Young Love"
Man claims he witnessed Dana Bradley murder
Tara Bradbury and Glen Whiffen
Published on March 15, 2014
RCMP investigate, inform him no new evidence found
Dana Bradley’s body was arranged in burial fashion by her killer in an area of alder bushes and trees off an old dirt road, away from the eyes of the city on a cold and quiet December evening many years ago.
One of the killer’s last acts at the scene was to tuck her school books carefully under her arm, as in some bizarre act of kindness when, sometime earlier, the monster in him had raged and he had brutally beat her about the head and robbed her of her life....
He said he saw the savageness in the killer that evening, claims he witnessed the horrific murder and the events following it that night.
As a child, he had known the man well. Suffering from his own type of hell with him, Robert says his memories from that day and night were long repressed, along with many other terrible memories from those years.
More than two-and-a-half years ago, after he decided to part ways with booze and take his chances without it, he says his mind healed and the memories surfaced — first of being sexually abused at the hands of the man, then of the murder....
Robert says the RCMP first met with him on Dec. 14, 2011 — the 30th anniversary of Dana’s murder.
According to an RCMP document, the investigation into Robert’s tip continued for 16 months.
The RCMP subsequently informed Robert that none of the avenues related to his tip provided any new evidence to support criminal charges.
In March 2013, the RCMP asked Robert to meet with Dr. Peter Collins, an expert in the field of forensic psychiatry.
“Subsequent to that meeting, you were advised by Dr. Collins that you were not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and recovered memories, but rather that you were experiencing false memory syndrome,” the document notes.
Robert complained to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP about the way investigators handled his information. He alleged the RCMP relied on false memory syndrome to make the decision to dismiss his complaint. He also pointed out that false memory syndrome is not recognized in the medical community....
At the same time, the RCMP informed Robert the investigation into his complaint about being sexually abused by the man in the early 1980s had concluded without corroborating evidence to support charges....
Looking back, Robert said the man probably wanted him to go along as a cover, in case he was seen, so that he could say he was taking him to his mother and father.
This time, Robert noted, the man didn’t attempt to drive up the dirt road but stopped on the side of Maddox Cove Road and walked up to where the body was.
“He was looking for his jacket — he didn’t have his jacket on — and he had gotten the booster cables,” Robert said. “So while I was left in the car, there was a car that drove by. He told me that if anyone stops, (to say) he left his new chainsaw up in the woods.”
As outlined in previous media reports, a Shea Heights couple driving north on Maddox Cove Road that night — between midnight and 1 a.m. — noticed a car matching the suspect vehicle parked on the side of the road. They said a passenger side door of the car was open and the dome light was illuminated. They also saw a man standing near the woods. They reported he had no jacket, despite the cold....
They then drove back to the man’s house, where Robert held a work light while the man washed the trunk of the car using cleaning supplies.
“He cleaned out the trunk and then he got me in the backseat of the car and had another go (sexual assault) at me,” Robert said. “And then he brought me home.”....
The man Robert describes had been a close friend of his parents in the early 1980s. In the 1990s, he was convicted of sexually abusing children and served time in prison. The time period of those offences is the same time frame Robert alleges he was abused by the man and Dana’s murder occurred.... http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-03-15/article-3650234/Man-claims-he-witnessed-Dana-Bradley-murder/1 http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-03-15/article-3650234/Man-claims-he-witnessed-Dana-Bradley-murder/2
‘The guy is the real thing’
Tara Bradbury and Glen Whiffen
Published on March 17, 2014
Doctor says man’s story of Dana Bradley murder shouldn’t be written off as false memory syndrome
Part 2 in a three-part series
Good memories from childhood are often recalled fondly. Bad memories, not so much. But what if the memories are so terrible, so horrible, it’s unbearable to live with them?....
He says he saw her murderer sexually assault and kill her by hitting her in the head with a tire iron and that he was there, crying, when the killer laid her out in burial fashion among the trees off an old dirt road just outside the city.
Robert’s relates these memories in spine-tingling detail — how he screamed and begged the man, a close friend of his family, not to leave the body in the winter cold overnight, and of being forced to hold a lamp in the dark as the killer later cleaned out the car trunk.
His throat closes and his chest hurts at times when he recalls his own abuse at the hands of the same man — a man who was convicted in the 1990s of sexually abusing other children, and served time in prison.
Robert would have gone to the police long ago if he had remembered any of what he had seen and experienced.
Now a successful businessman, husband and father, Robert describes always looking back on his childhood fondly, though he admits he had always had a hole, a big blank spot, in his memory.
He drank from the time he was 13 until he was 35, when, he says, the booze caught up with him.
After quitting drinking, he was driving home one day in 2011 when he suddenly began drowning in a wave of memories, which rushed in, bubbling and swirling, to fill the hole.
“I was all alone, and the first memory of the sexual abuse came back, and it came back like a punch in the stomach,” Robert said....
The RCMP investigated Robert’s information for 16 months, then informed him none of the avenues related to his tip had turned up any new evidence. As part of their investigation, police had asked Robert to meet with Dr. Peter Collins, an expert in forensic psychiatry.
According to a police document, Collins advised Robert he was not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but was experiencing false memory syndrome.
Not a recognized psychiatric disorder, false memory syndrome is used to describe a condition in which a person is affected by memories which aren’t true, but which they strongly believe. The term was developed in the United States by Peter and Pamela Freyd, who also founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in 1992....
Dr. Hugh Mirolo is the province’s only neuropsychiatrist and has been declared an expert witness in the courts in the area of neuropsychiatry. The Telegram asked him to meet with Robert, and the doctor believes he is telling the truth, especially since Robert experienced a panic attack and flashback while telling him his story.
“It would be pretty damn difficult for a guy to make that up, and for me to buy it,” said Mirolo, who had Robert’s permission to share his opinions with The Telegram.
“If he is an actor, he is a very, very good actor. He deserves an Oscar.”
Robert’s reaction was consistent with experiences Mirolo has witnessed in the past as a doctor in the United States, working with war veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder can cause flashbacks that bring them right back to the time and place of a memory so they are reliving it instead of simply recalling it, Mirolo said....
There is a tendency for the brain to repress things that are traumatic, the doctor explained, and it’s as basic as the pleasure principle: we go towards things that are pleasurable and avoid things that aren’t.
“When you have PTSD or (have witnessed) gory events, things like that, those things can be blocked,” Mirolo explained.
“The blockage is not foolproof; things can trigger it. The same goes for regular childhood memories. When I go to my office in the summer and they’re mowing the lawn outside, I remember the house in the country where my dad used to mow the lawn. That smell brings me back in time. This is the same sort of thing.”....
Mirolo doesn’t mince words when asked if he feels Robert was dismissed unfairly by the police, when it comes to false memory syndrome.
“Yes. Unfairly and too fast,” he said. “This guy is the real thing. He has been a victim more than once.... http://www.northernpen.ca/News/Local/2014-03-17/article-3651754/%26lsquo%3BThe-guy-is-the-real-thing%26rsquo%3B/1
‘There’s nothing left I can do,’ says man convinced he witnessed murder
Tara Bradbury and Glen Whiffen
Published on March 18, 2014
....Commission interim chair Ian McPhail wrote in the final report that the forensic psychiatrist’s diagnosis of false memory syndrome didn’t play a role in the attention given to the investigation, and wasn’t the basis for the investigators’ dismissal of the tip.
“I emphasize that, given its place in the investigation, the psychiatric assessment was not conducted to determine whether (Robert) was lying about his memories, which would have impacted the investigation, but rather to determine what the appropriate degree of reliance on those memories would and could be. There is no suggestion in the available material that (Robert) was deceitful.”
Robert told The Telegram Monday he is surprised by what he said is a “sudden and unexpected de-emphasizing” by the police of forensic psychiatrist Peter Collins’ diagnosis.
“Dr. Collins applied for a temporary licence to practice in Newfoundland so he could deliver his false memory syndrome message, and the RCMP could close my tip that very same day,” Robert said. “He appeared to be very important to investigators at the time.
“Things could be much further along if only they had given me the benefit of the doubt.”
When asked how he feels about the lack of evidence turned up by the police in their investigation into his memories, Robert is quick to respond.
“I don’t think they looked hard enough,” he said. “I think there were a lot of investigational techniques not used. I think they focused on trying to discredit me, rather than try to find evidence. It was a shallow investigation.”....
According to a police document Collins, an expert in forensic psychiatry, advised Robert he was not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but was experiencing false memory syndrome, a term used to describe a condition in which a person is affected by memories that aren’t true, but which they strongly believe.
The Telegram asked local neuropsychiatrist Dr. Hugh Mirolo, an accredited expert in the courts in the area of neuropsychiatry, to meet with Robert and share his opinions. Mirolo believes Robert is genuine, and told The Telegram he believes the RCMP dismissed him too quickly and unfairly.... http://www.northernpen.ca/News/Regional/2014-03-18/article-3653169/%26lsquoThere%26rsquos-nothing-left-I-can-do%2C%26rsquo-says-man-convinced-he-witnessed-murder/1
Disturbing Study Finds Women Actually Think Sexual Violence is Normal
By Viola Knowles , RYOT News April 15, 2014
Apparently women thinking sexual abuse is normal is the new normal.
A study to be published in Gender & Society finds that young women assume being harassed, assaulted and abused is simply something everyone experiences.
Sadly, statistics show us that they’re not exactly wrong.
Love Is Respect reports that one in three teens in the U.S. will experience some form of abuse from a dating partner, and one quarter of high school girls will be victims of sexual abuse.
One in four college girls will be the victims of rape or attempted rape.
This doesn’t include the one in three grown women who will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.
The fact that these are no longer just stats, but a way of thinking for women, shows that the time to take action is now.
Women in leadership are working hard to bring attention to these atrocities, like Angelina Jolie speaking out about sexual violence against women and children in conflict. http://www.ryot.org/women-think-sexual-violence-normal/642849
Normalizing Sexual Violence
Young Women Account for Harassment and Abuse
Heather R. Hlavka
Marquette University, USA
Despite high rates of gendered violence among youth, very few young women report these incidents to authority figures. This study moves the discussion from the question of why young women do not report them toward how violence is produced, maintained, and normalized among youth.... http://gas.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/02/28/0891243214526468.full
Describing Abusive Behavior as "Young Love"
Proponents of the witch-hunt narrative have a particular kind of blindness to real abuse. That is, they don't see sexual abuse in places where it is obvious to others. The book (The Witch-Hunt Narrative) is full of examples where real abuse is described as a false accusation or false conviction by proponents of the narrative. https://blogs.brown.edu/rcheit/2014/04/09/describing-abusive-behavior-as-young-love/#more
RCMP investigate, inform him no new evidence found
- ‘The guy is the real thing’
Doctor says man’s story of Dana Bradley murder shouldn’t be written off as false memory syndrome
- ‘There’s nothing left I can do,’ says man convinced he witnessed murder
- Disturbing Study Finds Women Actually Think Sexual Violence is Normal
- Normalizing Sexual Violence - Young Women Account for
Harassment and Abuse
- Describing Abusive Behavior as "Young Love"
Man claims he witnessed Dana Bradley murder
Tara Bradbury and Glen Whiffen
Published on March 15, 2014
RCMP investigate, inform him no new evidence found
Dana Bradley’s body was arranged in burial fashion by her killer in an area of alder bushes and trees off an old dirt road, away from the eyes of the city on a cold and quiet December evening many years ago.
One of the killer’s last acts at the scene was to tuck her school books carefully under her arm, as in some bizarre act of kindness when, sometime earlier, the monster in him had raged and he had brutally beat her about the head and robbed her of her life....
He said he saw the savageness in the killer that evening, claims he witnessed the horrific murder and the events following it that night.
As a child, he had known the man well. Suffering from his own type of hell with him, Robert says his memories from that day and night were long repressed, along with many other terrible memories from those years.
More than two-and-a-half years ago, after he decided to part ways with booze and take his chances without it, he says his mind healed and the memories surfaced — first of being sexually abused at the hands of the man, then of the murder....
Robert says the RCMP first met with him on Dec. 14, 2011 — the 30th anniversary of Dana’s murder.
According to an RCMP document, the investigation into Robert’s tip continued for 16 months.
The RCMP subsequently informed Robert that none of the avenues related to his tip provided any new evidence to support criminal charges.
In March 2013, the RCMP asked Robert to meet with Dr. Peter Collins, an expert in the field of forensic psychiatry.
“Subsequent to that meeting, you were advised by Dr. Collins that you were not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and recovered memories, but rather that you were experiencing false memory syndrome,” the document notes.
Robert complained to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP about the way investigators handled his information. He alleged the RCMP relied on false memory syndrome to make the decision to dismiss his complaint. He also pointed out that false memory syndrome is not recognized in the medical community....
At the same time, the RCMP informed Robert the investigation into his complaint about being sexually abused by the man in the early 1980s had concluded without corroborating evidence to support charges....
Looking back, Robert said the man probably wanted him to go along as a cover, in case he was seen, so that he could say he was taking him to his mother and father.
This time, Robert noted, the man didn’t attempt to drive up the dirt road but stopped on the side of Maddox Cove Road and walked up to where the body was.
“He was looking for his jacket — he didn’t have his jacket on — and he had gotten the booster cables,” Robert said. “So while I was left in the car, there was a car that drove by. He told me that if anyone stops, (to say) he left his new chainsaw up in the woods.”
As outlined in previous media reports, a Shea Heights couple driving north on Maddox Cove Road that night — between midnight and 1 a.m. — noticed a car matching the suspect vehicle parked on the side of the road. They said a passenger side door of the car was open and the dome light was illuminated. They also saw a man standing near the woods. They reported he had no jacket, despite the cold....
They then drove back to the man’s house, where Robert held a work light while the man washed the trunk of the car using cleaning supplies.
“He cleaned out the trunk and then he got me in the backseat of the car and had another go (sexual assault) at me,” Robert said. “And then he brought me home.”....
The man Robert describes had been a close friend of his parents in the early 1980s. In the 1990s, he was convicted of sexually abusing children and served time in prison. The time period of those offences is the same time frame Robert alleges he was abused by the man and Dana’s murder occurred.... http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-03-15/article-3650234/Man-claims-he-witnessed-Dana-Bradley-murder/1 http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-03-15/article-3650234/Man-claims-he-witnessed-Dana-Bradley-murder/2
‘The guy is the real thing’
Tara Bradbury and Glen Whiffen
Published on March 17, 2014
Doctor says man’s story of Dana Bradley murder shouldn’t be written off as false memory syndrome
Part 2 in a three-part series
Good memories from childhood are often recalled fondly. Bad memories, not so much. But what if the memories are so terrible, so horrible, it’s unbearable to live with them?....
He says he saw her murderer sexually assault and kill her by hitting her in the head with a tire iron and that he was there, crying, when the killer laid her out in burial fashion among the trees off an old dirt road just outside the city.
Robert’s relates these memories in spine-tingling detail — how he screamed and begged the man, a close friend of his family, not to leave the body in the winter cold overnight, and of being forced to hold a lamp in the dark as the killer later cleaned out the car trunk.
His throat closes and his chest hurts at times when he recalls his own abuse at the hands of the same man — a man who was convicted in the 1990s of sexually abusing other children, and served time in prison.
Robert would have gone to the police long ago if he had remembered any of what he had seen and experienced.
Now a successful businessman, husband and father, Robert describes always looking back on his childhood fondly, though he admits he had always had a hole, a big blank spot, in his memory.
He drank from the time he was 13 until he was 35, when, he says, the booze caught up with him.
After quitting drinking, he was driving home one day in 2011 when he suddenly began drowning in a wave of memories, which rushed in, bubbling and swirling, to fill the hole.
“I was all alone, and the first memory of the sexual abuse came back, and it came back like a punch in the stomach,” Robert said....
The RCMP investigated Robert’s information for 16 months, then informed him none of the avenues related to his tip had turned up any new evidence. As part of their investigation, police had asked Robert to meet with Dr. Peter Collins, an expert in forensic psychiatry.
According to a police document, Collins advised Robert he was not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but was experiencing false memory syndrome.
Not a recognized psychiatric disorder, false memory syndrome is used to describe a condition in which a person is affected by memories which aren’t true, but which they strongly believe. The term was developed in the United States by Peter and Pamela Freyd, who also founded the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in 1992....
Dr. Hugh Mirolo is the province’s only neuropsychiatrist and has been declared an expert witness in the courts in the area of neuropsychiatry. The Telegram asked him to meet with Robert, and the doctor believes he is telling the truth, especially since Robert experienced a panic attack and flashback while telling him his story.
“It would be pretty damn difficult for a guy to make that up, and for me to buy it,” said Mirolo, who had Robert’s permission to share his opinions with The Telegram.
“If he is an actor, he is a very, very good actor. He deserves an Oscar.”
Robert’s reaction was consistent with experiences Mirolo has witnessed in the past as a doctor in the United States, working with war veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder can cause flashbacks that bring them right back to the time and place of a memory so they are reliving it instead of simply recalling it, Mirolo said....
There is a tendency for the brain to repress things that are traumatic, the doctor explained, and it’s as basic as the pleasure principle: we go towards things that are pleasurable and avoid things that aren’t.
“When you have PTSD or (have witnessed) gory events, things like that, those things can be blocked,” Mirolo explained.
“The blockage is not foolproof; things can trigger it. The same goes for regular childhood memories. When I go to my office in the summer and they’re mowing the lawn outside, I remember the house in the country where my dad used to mow the lawn. That smell brings me back in time. This is the same sort of thing.”....
Mirolo doesn’t mince words when asked if he feels Robert was dismissed unfairly by the police, when it comes to false memory syndrome.
“Yes. Unfairly and too fast,” he said. “This guy is the real thing. He has been a victim more than once.... http://www.northernpen.ca/News/Local/2014-03-17/article-3651754/%26lsquo%3BThe-guy-is-the-real-thing%26rsquo%3B/1
‘There’s nothing left I can do,’ says man convinced he witnessed murder
Tara Bradbury and Glen Whiffen
Published on March 18, 2014
....Commission interim chair Ian McPhail wrote in the final report that the forensic psychiatrist’s diagnosis of false memory syndrome didn’t play a role in the attention given to the investigation, and wasn’t the basis for the investigators’ dismissal of the tip.
“I emphasize that, given its place in the investigation, the psychiatric assessment was not conducted to determine whether (Robert) was lying about his memories, which would have impacted the investigation, but rather to determine what the appropriate degree of reliance on those memories would and could be. There is no suggestion in the available material that (Robert) was deceitful.”
Robert told The Telegram Monday he is surprised by what he said is a “sudden and unexpected de-emphasizing” by the police of forensic psychiatrist Peter Collins’ diagnosis.
“Dr. Collins applied for a temporary licence to practice in Newfoundland so he could deliver his false memory syndrome message, and the RCMP could close my tip that very same day,” Robert said. “He appeared to be very important to investigators at the time.
“Things could be much further along if only they had given me the benefit of the doubt.”
When asked how he feels about the lack of evidence turned up by the police in their investigation into his memories, Robert is quick to respond.
“I don’t think they looked hard enough,” he said. “I think there were a lot of investigational techniques not used. I think they focused on trying to discredit me, rather than try to find evidence. It was a shallow investigation.”....
According to a police document Collins, an expert in forensic psychiatry, advised Robert he was not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but was experiencing false memory syndrome, a term used to describe a condition in which a person is affected by memories that aren’t true, but which they strongly believe.
The Telegram asked local neuropsychiatrist Dr. Hugh Mirolo, an accredited expert in the courts in the area of neuropsychiatry, to meet with Robert and share his opinions. Mirolo believes Robert is genuine, and told The Telegram he believes the RCMP dismissed him too quickly and unfairly.... http://www.northernpen.ca/News/Regional/2014-03-18/article-3653169/%26lsquoThere%26rsquos-nothing-left-I-can-do%2C%26rsquo-says-man-convinced-he-witnessed-murder/1
Disturbing Study Finds Women Actually Think Sexual Violence is Normal
By Viola Knowles , RYOT News April 15, 2014
Apparently women thinking sexual abuse is normal is the new normal.
A study to be published in Gender & Society finds that young women assume being harassed, assaulted and abused is simply something everyone experiences.
Sadly, statistics show us that they’re not exactly wrong.
Love Is Respect reports that one in three teens in the U.S. will experience some form of abuse from a dating partner, and one quarter of high school girls will be victims of sexual abuse.
One in four college girls will be the victims of rape or attempted rape.
This doesn’t include the one in three grown women who will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.
The fact that these are no longer just stats, but a way of thinking for women, shows that the time to take action is now.
Women in leadership are working hard to bring attention to these atrocities, like Angelina Jolie speaking out about sexual violence against women and children in conflict. http://www.ryot.org/women-think-sexual-violence-normal/642849
Normalizing Sexual Violence
Young Women Account for Harassment and Abuse
Heather R. Hlavka
Marquette University, USA
Despite high rates of gendered violence among youth, very few young women report these incidents to authority figures. This study moves the discussion from the question of why young women do not report them toward how violence is produced, maintained, and normalized among youth.... http://gas.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/02/28/0891243214526468.full
Describing Abusive Behavior as "Young Love"
Proponents of the witch-hunt narrative have a particular kind of blindness to real abuse. That is, they don't see sexual abuse in places where it is obvious to others. The book (The Witch-Hunt Narrative) is full of examples where real abuse is described as a false accusation or false conviction by proponents of the narrative. https://blogs.brown.edu/rcheit/2014/04/09/describing-abusive-behavior-as-young-love/#more
Monday, November 12, 2012
Keyon Dooling, Australia church sex abuse - alleged pedophile ring
Keyon Dooling stayed in a psychiatric hospital this summer, talks with Katie Couric about his history of abuse (VIDEO)
By Eric Freeman | Ball Don't Lie – 11/12/12
In late September, veteran Boston Celtics guard Keyon Dooling surprised the NBA world when he announced his retirement less than two months after signing a new contract. However, it turned out that Dooling had an excellent reason for his decision. After years of suppressing a history of sexual abuse, Dooling understood that he had to open up about his experiences, that he needed a change in his life, and that he had to spend more time with his family. It was a brave choice for a man who had earned the respect of teammates, opponents, coaches, and employers over the course of 12 seasons in the league.
Until now, though, we haven't heard much about the experiences this summer that led Dooling to step away from basketball. As detailed by David Aldridge of NBA.com, Dooling dealt with hallucinations and related issues brought on by a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and had to spend a significant amount of time in a psychiatric hospital....
Dooling was exhibiting behaviors familiar to soldiers returning from war zones. But Post Traumatic Stress Disorders aren't limited to those who fight in wars. Police officers, firefighters, anyone subject to a severe emotional episode can suffer from PTSD.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/keyon-dooling-stayed-psychiatric-hospital-summer-talks-katie-225458656--nba.html
Policeman says inquiry should spur church to change 11/13/12
The senior policeman who blew the whistle on an alleged police cover-up of church sex abuse in New South Wales has called on the Catholic Church to make radical changes to fix problems plaguing the church.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox spoke to Lateline just hours after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the creation of a royal commission into institutional responses to instances of child sexual abuse.
Pressure had been building on the Government to react to growing social and political outrage at the latest series of revelations of paedophilia in society.
Most are centred on the Catholic Church, but Ms Gillard says that it is not the only focus of the inquiry, which will look into claims across the breadth of society.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/4368086
Gillard launches royal commission into child abuse
By Simon Cullen and staff Mon Nov 12, 2012
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the creation of a national royal commission into institutional responses to instances of child sexual abuse.
The decision was taken at a meeting of federal cabinet this afternoon.
Ms Gillard had been under pressure to act following growing calls for a national inquiry into explosive allegations by a senior New South Wales police investigator that the Catholic Church covered up evidence involving paedophile priests.
A number of senior Labor MPs, as well as key independents, had already voiced their support for action on a national scale.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott also declared his support for a "wide-ranging" royal commission into child sex abuse but said it should not just focus on claims involving the Catholic Church....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/4367364
Ex-teacher, Catholic brother face assault charges
Lateline By Matthew Carney and staff 11/13/12
Sydney police have arrested a former teacher and a Catholic brother over alleged assaults against children dating back more than two decades.
Detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad arrested the 58-year-old former teacher in Blacktown in the city's west late on Monday afternoon. A 59-year-old Catholic brother was arrested an hour later at The Entrance on the NSW central coast....
Police allege the offences involved two 13-year-old boys in 1987 and an eight-year-old girl in 1985, with some of the incidents taking place at a Catholic college in Blacktown and a primary school at Lalor Park.
ABC TV's Lateline program reported the arrests are linked to an alleged paedophile ring, and it understands more arrests are to follow....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/4367886
By Eric Freeman | Ball Don't Lie – 11/12/12
In late September, veteran Boston Celtics guard Keyon Dooling surprised the NBA world when he announced his retirement less than two months after signing a new contract. However, it turned out that Dooling had an excellent reason for his decision. After years of suppressing a history of sexual abuse, Dooling understood that he had to open up about his experiences, that he needed a change in his life, and that he had to spend more time with his family. It was a brave choice for a man who had earned the respect of teammates, opponents, coaches, and employers over the course of 12 seasons in the league.
Until now, though, we haven't heard much about the experiences this summer that led Dooling to step away from basketball. As detailed by David Aldridge of NBA.com, Dooling dealt with hallucinations and related issues brought on by a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and had to spend a significant amount of time in a psychiatric hospital....
Dooling was exhibiting behaviors familiar to soldiers returning from war zones. But Post Traumatic Stress Disorders aren't limited to those who fight in wars. Police officers, firefighters, anyone subject to a severe emotional episode can suffer from PTSD.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/keyon-dooling-stayed-psychiatric-hospital-summer-talks-katie-225458656--nba.html
Policeman says inquiry should spur church to change 11/13/12
The senior policeman who blew the whistle on an alleged police cover-up of church sex abuse in New South Wales has called on the Catholic Church to make radical changes to fix problems plaguing the church.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox spoke to Lateline just hours after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the creation of a royal commission into institutional responses to instances of child sexual abuse.
Pressure had been building on the Government to react to growing social and political outrage at the latest series of revelations of paedophilia in society.
Most are centred on the Catholic Church, but Ms Gillard says that it is not the only focus of the inquiry, which will look into claims across the breadth of society.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/4368086
Gillard launches royal commission into child abuse
By Simon Cullen and staff Mon Nov 12, 2012
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the creation of a national royal commission into institutional responses to instances of child sexual abuse.
The decision was taken at a meeting of federal cabinet this afternoon.
Ms Gillard had been under pressure to act following growing calls for a national inquiry into explosive allegations by a senior New South Wales police investigator that the Catholic Church covered up evidence involving paedophile priests.
A number of senior Labor MPs, as well as key independents, had already voiced their support for action on a national scale.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott also declared his support for a "wide-ranging" royal commission into child sex abuse but said it should not just focus on claims involving the Catholic Church....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/4367364
Ex-teacher, Catholic brother face assault charges
Lateline By Matthew Carney and staff 11/13/12
Sydney police have arrested a former teacher and a Catholic brother over alleged assaults against children dating back more than two decades.
Detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad arrested the 58-year-old former teacher in Blacktown in the city's west late on Monday afternoon. A 59-year-old Catholic brother was arrested an hour later at The Entrance on the NSW central coast....
Police allege the offences involved two 13-year-old boys in 1987 and an eight-year-old girl in 1985, with some of the incidents taking place at a Catholic college in Blacktown and a primary school at Lalor Park.
ABC TV's Lateline program reported the arrests are linked to an alleged paedophile ring, and it understands more arrests are to follow....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/4367886
Friday, March 9, 2012
Milwaukee woman charged with cutting fetus from mother has multiple personality disorder, report says
Milwaukee woman charged with cutting fetus from mother has multiple personality disorder, report says - By Bruce Vielmetti Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 03/08/2012
MILWAUKEE - The woman charged with cutting the late-term fetus from a young mother, with hopes of passing the baby off as her own, suffers from a multiple personality disorder, according to the report of a new mental exam.
The 57-page report released Thursday concludes that Annette Morales-Rodriguez suffered horrific sexual abuse and abandonment as a child and has adopted extremely dissociative behavior to block it out. The truth only emerged during 13 hours of interviews in which her alter-ego, "Lara," emerged, according to the report.
"Lara admitted to tragically believing that as a separate 'person' she could sacrificially spare Annette from imprisonment by coming forward herself and confessing to the crime," states Anne Speckhard, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Medical School who was part of the defense team for Lorena Bobbitt....
Morales-Rodriguez, 34, has entered a similar plea, but a state psychiatrist in December found that she did not suffer from a mental disease or defect. She is charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the October deaths of Maritza Ramirez, 23, and her unborn son.
According to the criminal complaint, Morales-Rodriguez went looking for a pregnant woman near a south side social service agency, found Ramirez and offered her a ride....
Speckhard, the defense expert, also has testified in courts around the country and before Congress about post-traumatic stress disorder, and worked with international committees on terrorism and its sociocultural effects. She also has studied and written about the traumatic stress of abortion, according to her website.
But in court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams questioned her qualifications, noting her doctorate is in family social science, and that federal judges in Wisconsin have declined to recognize her as an expert in two other cases.
Whether it ever becomes evidence, Speckhard's report offers fascinating reading about a condition - dissociative disorder disease, or DID - believed to exist in less than 1 percent of people.
According to the report, in the first several hours of an interview at the jail, Morales-Rodriguez spoke of a fairly happy, normal childhood. But eventually, Speckhard noticed that when the conversation turned to the facts of the case or other trauma, Morales-Rodriguez's eyes would roll up and her eyelids would flutter rapidly, as "Lara" would emerge.
According to Speckhard, Lara is only a personality fragment, developed to absorb the most traumatic experiences and memories of Morales-Rodriguez's abuse and abandonment by her mother, and the death of her grandmother. Like those events, the October murders don't register in Annette's memory, while Lara can recall them in numb detail. The report includes lengthy accounts of each personality speaking of the other, and mentions a videotaped emergence of Lara during the second daylong interview.
"The change was quite dramatic in bodily posture, musculature, emotional tone, etc." the report states.
Speckhard concludes that Morales-Rodriguez continues to suffer from a severe mental defect that affects her capacity to "understand and morally evaluate her decisions and actions" and is dire need of lengthy therapy.
According to the report:
Morales-Rodriguez suffered long-term sexual abuse until about age 12. Her mother left the family, and her grandmother, who had taken over parenting, died when Morales-Rodriguez was 16, a very traumatic event that triggered her first realization of Lara....
http://www.twincities.com/wisconsin/ci_20134741/milwaukee-woman-charged-cutting-fetus-from-mother-has
MILWAUKEE - The woman charged with cutting the late-term fetus from a young mother, with hopes of passing the baby off as her own, suffers from a multiple personality disorder, according to the report of a new mental exam.
The 57-page report released Thursday concludes that Annette Morales-Rodriguez suffered horrific sexual abuse and abandonment as a child and has adopted extremely dissociative behavior to block it out. The truth only emerged during 13 hours of interviews in which her alter-ego, "Lara," emerged, according to the report.
"Lara admitted to tragically believing that as a separate 'person' she could sacrificially spare Annette from imprisonment by coming forward herself and confessing to the crime," states Anne Speckhard, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Medical School who was part of the defense team for Lorena Bobbitt....
Morales-Rodriguez, 34, has entered a similar plea, but a state psychiatrist in December found that she did not suffer from a mental disease or defect. She is charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the October deaths of Maritza Ramirez, 23, and her unborn son.
According to the criminal complaint, Morales-Rodriguez went looking for a pregnant woman near a south side social service agency, found Ramirez and offered her a ride....
Speckhard, the defense expert, also has testified in courts around the country and before Congress about post-traumatic stress disorder, and worked with international committees on terrorism and its sociocultural effects. She also has studied and written about the traumatic stress of abortion, according to her website.
But in court Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams questioned her qualifications, noting her doctorate is in family social science, and that federal judges in Wisconsin have declined to recognize her as an expert in two other cases.
Whether it ever becomes evidence, Speckhard's report offers fascinating reading about a condition - dissociative disorder disease, or DID - believed to exist in less than 1 percent of people.
According to the report, in the first several hours of an interview at the jail, Morales-Rodriguez spoke of a fairly happy, normal childhood. But eventually, Speckhard noticed that when the conversation turned to the facts of the case or other trauma, Morales-Rodriguez's eyes would roll up and her eyelids would flutter rapidly, as "Lara" would emerge.
According to Speckhard, Lara is only a personality fragment, developed to absorb the most traumatic experiences and memories of Morales-Rodriguez's abuse and abandonment by her mother, and the death of her grandmother. Like those events, the October murders don't register in Annette's memory, while Lara can recall them in numb detail. The report includes lengthy accounts of each personality speaking of the other, and mentions a videotaped emergence of Lara during the second daylong interview.
"The change was quite dramatic in bodily posture, musculature, emotional tone, etc." the report states.
Speckhard concludes that Morales-Rodriguez continues to suffer from a severe mental defect that affects her capacity to "understand and morally evaluate her decisions and actions" and is dire need of lengthy therapy.
According to the report:
Morales-Rodriguez suffered long-term sexual abuse until about age 12. Her mother left the family, and her grandmother, who had taken over parenting, died when Morales-Rodriguez was 16, a very traumatic event that triggered her first realization of Lara....
http://www.twincities.com/wisconsin/ci_20134741/milwaukee-woman-charged-cutting-fetus-from-mother-has
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Effects of sexual abuse last for decades, study finds
Effects of sexual abuse last for decades, study finds
Levels of so-called stress hormone are altered for years, sometimes causing physical and mental problems, researchers find
By Joan Raymond msnbc.com contributor
6/30/2011
Young girls who are the victims of sexual abuse experience physical, biological and behavioral problems that can persist for decades after, a new study shows.
Researchers, who tracked a group of girls ranging in age from 6 to 16 at the start of the study in 1987 for the next 23 years, found that they had higher rates of depression and obesity, as well as problems with regulation of brain chemicals, among other issues, compared to a control group of girls who were not abused.
The study, published in the Cambridge University Press journal Development and Psychopathology, was conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Those in the study were assessed by researchers six times at varying ages and developmental stages. Researchers hope to continue the study looking at the women, who are now in their 30s, as well as their children.
The racially-diverse group of 80 girls, who lived in the Washington, D.C., area, were victims of incest, broadly defined as suffering sexual abuse by a male living within the home. On average, the girls were abused for about two years prior to the abuse coming to the attention of child protective services. Some girls were abused when they were as young as age 2.
Compared to a non-abused control group, the researchers found the study participants, all of whom were provided three therapy sessions on average in group and individual settings, suffered severe effects during different stages of their lives, which affected their sexual and cognitive development, mental and physical health, as well as their brain chemical profile. Study participants were more likely to be sexually active at younger ages, have lower educational status, and have more mental health problems.
As children, they had higher levels of cortisol, the so-called "stress hormone," which is released in high levels during the body’s "fight or flight" response. But by about age 15, testing showed that cortisol levels were below normal, compared to the control group. Lower levels of cortisol have been linked to a decrease in the body’s ability to deal with stress, as well as problems with depression and obesity. Lower levels of the hormone have also been linked to post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The cortisol levels (of some study participants) wound up looking like Vietnam vets,” says study co-author Dr. Frank Putnam, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. “That tells us they are in a chronic state of stress, and never feel safe.”
....The long-term effects of the abuse “were absolutely profound,” says lead author and child psychologist Penelope Trickett, USC professor of Social Work. “It’s just not mental health issues. Some of these women are suffering from a lot of problems today like sleep issues, poor health utilization, and have a lot of risky behaviors. It’s very disturbing.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43594639/ns/health-health_care/
Levels of so-called stress hormone are altered for years, sometimes causing physical and mental problems, researchers find
By Joan Raymond msnbc.com contributor
6/30/2011
Young girls who are the victims of sexual abuse experience physical, biological and behavioral problems that can persist for decades after, a new study shows.
Researchers, who tracked a group of girls ranging in age from 6 to 16 at the start of the study in 1987 for the next 23 years, found that they had higher rates of depression and obesity, as well as problems with regulation of brain chemicals, among other issues, compared to a control group of girls who were not abused.
The study, published in the Cambridge University Press journal Development and Psychopathology, was conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Those in the study were assessed by researchers six times at varying ages and developmental stages. Researchers hope to continue the study looking at the women, who are now in their 30s, as well as their children.
The racially-diverse group of 80 girls, who lived in the Washington, D.C., area, were victims of incest, broadly defined as suffering sexual abuse by a male living within the home. On average, the girls were abused for about two years prior to the abuse coming to the attention of child protective services. Some girls were abused when they were as young as age 2.
Compared to a non-abused control group, the researchers found the study participants, all of whom were provided three therapy sessions on average in group and individual settings, suffered severe effects during different stages of their lives, which affected their sexual and cognitive development, mental and physical health, as well as their brain chemical profile. Study participants were more likely to be sexually active at younger ages, have lower educational status, and have more mental health problems.
As children, they had higher levels of cortisol, the so-called "stress hormone," which is released in high levels during the body’s "fight or flight" response. But by about age 15, testing showed that cortisol levels were below normal, compared to the control group. Lower levels of cortisol have been linked to a decrease in the body’s ability to deal with stress, as well as problems with depression and obesity. Lower levels of the hormone have also been linked to post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The cortisol levels (of some study participants) wound up looking like Vietnam vets,” says study co-author Dr. Frank Putnam, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. “That tells us they are in a chronic state of stress, and never feel safe.”
....The long-term effects of the abuse “were absolutely profound,” says lead author and child psychologist Penelope Trickett, USC professor of Social Work. “It’s just not mental health issues. Some of these women are suffering from a lot of problems today like sleep issues, poor health utilization, and have a lot of risky behaviors. It’s very disturbing.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43594639/ns/health-health_care/
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