Memory of sexual violence haunts women for decades

Washington, Sept. 6: Women who experience sexual assault have vivid memories of the incident for decades, even if they are not diagnosed with post- traumatic stress disorder, a study has found.

Unlike women coping with the aftermath of other traumatic, life- altering events, victims of sexual violence had more intense memories that were difficult, if not impossible, to forget.

“To some extent it is not surprising that these memories relate to more feelings of depression and anxiety because these women remember what happened and think about it a lot,” said Tracey Shors, a professor at Rutgers University in the US.

“But these feelings and thoughts are usually associated with PTSD and most women in our study who experienced these vivid memories did not suffer from PTSD, which is generally associated with more intense mental and physical reactions,” said Shors, who coauthored the study published

in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.

The study included 183 college- aged women between the ages of 18- 39. Sixty- four women reported that they were victims of sexual violence while 119 did not have a history of sexual violence.

Less than 10 per cent were on anti- anxiety or antidepressant medication.

The women with a history of sexual violence reported stronger memories with specific details that included seeing the event clearly in their mind.

They reported having a harder time forgetting the incident and believed it to be a significant part of their life story.

“Each time you reflect on an old memory, you make a new one in your brain because it is retrieved in the present space and time,”' said Shors.

“What this study shows is that this process can make it even more difficult to forget what happened,” she said.