The Long-Term Consequences of Lifetime Abuse and Trauma

The Academy of Violence & Abuse, based on a desk study in 2009, highlighted the long-term effects of trauma on health and created a thought-provoking image to accompany their findings. In this short post, I will share my thoughts on their findings.

The study aimed to highlight the economic cost of abuse and violence, but in the end, what it found was a startling link between exposure to trauma and the profound web of problems that followed.

"Violence and abuse have serious long-term medical consequences that last long after the initial trauma." (Dolezal et al., 2009)

It is widely recognised that exposure to traumatic events, whether a single event or multiple traumas, has serious, lifelong effects on mental health. However, we have had little understanding of how trauma can be linked directly to the physical health of individuals.

I believe that even trauma survivors are often unaware that the health problems they are experiencing are most likely the result of trauma. They may find it easier to associate mental health problems with it. Still, I often hear that they overlook physical health problems or illnesses, attributing them to bad luck or unhealthy habits, even though they lead a predominantly healthy lifestyle.

Dolezal, T. McCollum D., Callahan, M., Eden Prairie, MN: Academy on Violence and Abuse; 2009.

Trauma therapy can help uncover these links and help clients change their perspective. The more they know about the potential impact of the trauma, the more compassion they can develop for themselves, which is an essential part of the healing process.