How do you heal from sexual assault?
This is maybe a blunt and stupid question to ask on here. But a few months ago late into the summer, a man tried to force himself on me while I was going for a nighttime walk.
I won’t go into detail but I managed to run away and get to my car where I dialed 911. When the police arrived I filed a report and drove home. The experience gave me terrible insomnia. My anxiety was so bad I couldn’t sleep for months.
The insomnia has gone away with medication and the passage of time but I’ve noticed that I still carry this anxiety around with me in daily life. When anyone touches me, my first reaction is fear. A friend hugs me? I freeze up in fear. It’s like a deer in the headlights situation.
It’s really annoying and it’s like I have to now teach my body and mind to stop reacting this way.
I won’t go into detail but I managed to run away and get to my car where I dialed 911. When the police arrived I filed a report and drove home. The experience gave me terrible insomnia. My anxiety was so bad I couldn’t sleep for months.
The insomnia has gone away with medication and the passage of time but I’ve noticed that I still carry this anxiety around with me in daily life. When anyone touches me, my first reaction is fear. A friend hugs me? I freeze up in fear. It’s like a deer in the headlights situation.
It’s really annoying and it’s like I have to now teach my body and mind to stop reacting this way.
