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These mental health conditions can lead to other adverse consequences like difficulties with relationships, problems at work, irrational fears, and more. Research has shown that adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse often develop mental health conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. This is because of the mental energy subconsciously used to repress painful memories.
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By working through the repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, you can regain control over your emotions and work towards recovering from the trauma you endured. If you believe you have repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, a mental health practitioner or therapist can provide a safe space for you to recover memories of childhood trauma and help you work past and recover from that trauma. How to Cope with Repressed Memories Coming Back Survivors of childhood sexual abuse may also develop dissociative amnesia, which is when you are unable to remember important information about yourself. For sex abuse survivors, memory repression is often a subconscious defense mechanism that allows them to continue functioning in daily life. While it is normal not to remember every part of your childhood, adult survivors of child sex abuse may only have fragments of memories that surface in response to certain stimuli. When we experience trauma, especially the immense trauma of childhood sex abuse, it often affects the brain’s ability to form and retain memories. Memory loss is extremely common for survivors of childhood sex abuse. Signs of repressed childhood sexual abuse that adults should be aware of include mental, physical, and emotional difficulties. In some cases, the damage that childhood sexual abuse causes may not manifest until later on in the survivor’s life once they begin to recall the memories of what took place. As a defense mechanism, many survivors of childhood sex abuse subconsciously block out the painful memories of what happened to them in order to protect themselves and continue functioning in their day-to-day lives. Experiencing childhood trauma, including childhood sexual abuse, can leave survivors with mental, emotional, and physical damage to no fault of their own.