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home / Help and Support / Types of Crime / Childhood Abuse

Childhood Abuse

Childhood abuse takes many different forms. It can be defined as emotional and sexual abuse, as well as neglect.

In some cases, people experience more than one type of childhood abuse.

People often abuse others because they want power and control over the other person. If you were abused as a child, it’s vital to remember that it wasn’t your fault, and has nothing to do with anything that you did.

Studies suggest that around one in four adults (both men and women) have experienced abuse as a child. For some, the support of their friends and families helps them recover, but for many survivors, talking about what happened to someone professional and independent is an essential step.

We can be that independent listening ear. If you’d like to speak to us about something that happened to you as a child, speak to us whenever you’re ready.

Emotional responses to being abused as a child

Man's head with thoughts exploding out

It’s often difficult to know exactly how you feel as an adult who has been abused as a child. Even if you reported the abuse or only recently remembered it, you may experience some very intense emotions.

Just because you’ve experienced childhood abuse doesn’t mean you’ll experience mental health or emotional difficulties, but it’s estimated that over 50% of adults in that situation have the following symptoms:

  • depression;
  • anxiety;
  • sleep disorder;
  • self-harm;
  • suicidal thoughts; and
  • post-traumatic stress.

Your physical health may be impacted, too. Finding it more difficult to go your you GP, dentist or hospital isn’t uncommon, because you may feel unwilling to take part in physical examinations.

What can I do if I’m impacted by childhood abuse?

Two female friends sitting on top of a building staring in to the distance

Dealing with childhood abuse on your own can be particularly difficult. If you’re struggling to cope, we can offer professional advice via our trained team who have vast experience dealing with people just like you who have suffered abuse of this kind.

We’ll help you process the experience and move on with our free, confidential service – it doesn’t matter whether or not you’ve reported the incident, either.

We believe that everyone who has experienced childhood abuse should get the help and support they need. This extends to anyone who has been abused, no matter if it was recently or many years ago, and regardless of gender.

If you’re dealing with the after effects of childhood abuse, talk to us today.

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