The Forensic Nurse

Sometimes the professionals who help victims of sexual assualt may inadventently experience injuries as the result of trying to help those who have been victimized. Not physical injuries, but the emotional injuries, just as real as those experienced by their victims.

Dealing with horrific and traumatized victims on a daily basis can drain on the mental strength of these professionals. Forensic Nurses, child protective services, prosecutors, therapists, and law enforcement officials are often exposed daily to the kind of nightmares that many of us can’t even, or maybe just don’t want to think about.

One website called www.silentinjuries.com is dedicated to trying to help support those who support others. They specialize in trying to help SANE’s and other professionals of sexual abuse to deal with relationship problems, depression, sleep deprivation, and social issues that they may experience as a result of their work.

Many people are aware of military veterans coming back from combat operations in Iraq and Afgahnastan with post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. But the VA recently released some interesting and alarming statistics on the 60,000+ veterans who have been recently diagnosed with PSTD.

Women are now no longer confined to support operations and now routinely experience front line combat situations and the vivid and often tormenting images that go with such experiences. Women compose almost 11% of the military forces in todays army.

Of those 60,000 veterans who have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, 22% women suffered from has been termed “Military Sexual Trauma“, which includes sexual harassment, and/or sexual assault. Only 1% of men reported similar trauma.

PTSD has long been associated with rape and sexual assault victims, but the numbers reported by the VA are new.