How Abuse Affects Victims

Throughout the world, many types of people experience abuse and understand how it affects victims. Abuse towards others can be categorized as emotional, physical, psychological and sexual. During abuse, victims can experience emotional and physical distress and pain. Even after abuse has occurred, the victims can experience emotional pain that stays with them. Because of the emotional scars that they have, victims that are unable to cope with their trauma express and develop certain characteristics and mentalities. Although victims want to avoid reliving their traumatic abuse, their decisions, scars, and mentalities cause suffering to occur to themselves and their close family members. After they have experienced emotional, physical,

Because of the severity of abuse, it continues to haunt victims in adulthood. Through experiencing neglect, or sexual, emotional, and physical abuse, victims are vulnerable to these “secondary injuries” that can develop into mental health issues. These mental health issues range from major depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, antisocial personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance dependence (2). Although some victims are able to deal and cope with their trauma and mental health through therapy or help from family members and friends, others are unable to cope with their situations. When victims are unable to cope or get help with the trauma that they experience, their mental health and personality determine how they deal with the situation. One way a victim can attempt to cope with their past abuse is by becoming an abuser themselves. According to a study that focused on sexual abuse among men, 12% of men who were abused in childhood committed sexual offenses later in life (3). In another study focusing on the relationship between childhood physical abuse and intimate partner aggression, the authors stated that “childhood maltreatment increased the risk for violent behaviors in adulthood by 15.9%”

When victims of abuse become abusers, there are many reasons that possibly explain why. In ^^^’s article,, they state that “Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the link between childhood abuse and risk for future violence, including social learning theory, dissociation, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Specifically, PTSD and dissociation are thought to increase vulnerability by decreasing awareness of environmental cues in dangerous situations” (). Because of the abuse that these victims have experienced and their emotions toward the matter, they can develop mental disorders that affect their cognitive reason and functioning. These types or abusers are easily triggered into a rage and tend to not recognize the distress or emotions of their victims. Since victims of revictimization repress their feelings and avoid them, they are easily abused repeatedly and tend to gravitate towards their abusers. According to, , victims that become are prone to revictimization “develop strong emotional ties with people who intermittently harass, beat, and threaten them. The persistence of these attachment bonds leads to confusion of pain and love” (). These victims tend to have a one-sided bond with their abusers. Even though the victims are distressed and traumatized during abuse, they eventually repress their feelings and