Penn State's Hidden Victims
Mental health experts call it “triggering”—when an event, a sound, an image on television, or even a smell takes a victim back to the moment of their sexual abuse. For those who have survived such a childhood, the next wave of the Jerry Sandusky scandal is about to hit like a tsunami.
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The release of the highly anticipated report is sure to haunt Sandusky’s alleged victims, many of whom testified against him at the trial in which he was recently convicted. It may even spur legal action against Penn State and Spanier (who recently resigned), attorneys have suggested, if the report appears to prove that abuse could have been prevented.
But even for those not directly tied to the case, the enormity of the Sandusky saga has been felt. For the most fragile of childhood sexual abuse survivors—those who are new to treatment or have never sought professional help—the spectacle of the Sandusky case may act as a trigger, dredging up memories of their own painful past. According to professionals who work with such patients, a trigger can leave victims with panic attacks, depressed, or, in the worst cases, suicidal.
Curtis St. John, former president of the support group MaleSurvivor expects traffic to the organization’s Web site to spike this week as victims (they prefer to be called survivors) seek balance after the barrage of news coverage following the release of the Freeh report. “We’ve already been getting a flood into the site,” St. John told The Daily Beast. In November 2011, after Sandusky was arrested, traffic increased 66 percent, according to St. John. “It went up another 50 to 55 percent in May and June as the trial got underway,” he said. He attributes the increase to “those who found us and realized, ‘I am not alone.’”
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/11/penn-state-s-hidden-victims.html
I'm glad this is publicized and hopefully will draw attention to a big problem. Too many people still remain in denial.
However, this does cause a great deal of pain for many people. It is an instantaneous reaction that is horrifying and discombobulating. The shadow of abuse never goes away. Even if someone has years of not thinking about the abuse, it can blindside them.
The Freeh Report will be released Thursday at 9am. It will be released simultaneously to many outlets. It will be online.
In addition, there is a federal investigation being lead by the judge who handled the case where some judges got cash for sending kids to juvie. I don't think he will be very forgiving.
The Paterno family is in complete damage control mode. They issued a statement saying he did not know about the abuse nor did he enable Sandusky. Happy Valley will remain cocooned in a mystical realm of denial where JoePa is forever a saint.
Karma is a bitch. They will find out the hard way.
