Abortion Effects

How has abortion affected you?

Take this quiz to find out

Do you avoid the subject of abortion, or do you feel guilt, anger, or shame when remembering or discussing your own abortion?
Do you tend to think of your life in terms of “before” and “after” the abortion?
Do you have lingering feelings of resentment or anger toward people involved in your abortion, such as the baby’s father, friends, or your parents?
Have you found yourself either avoiding relationships or becoming overly dependent in them since the abortion? Are you overly protective of any children you have now?
Have you begun or increased use of drugs or alcohol since the abortion, or do you have an eating disorder?
Have you felt a vague sort of emptiness, a deep sense of loss, crying spells or had prolonged periods of depression?
Do you sometimes have nightmares or flashbacks relating to the abortion?
Are you concerned about your ability to get pregnant in the future?
Have you lost your sense of direction?
Do you feel hopeless and helpless?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be experiencing POST ABORTION STRESS!

What is Post Abortion Stress? It is often described as a chronic inability to:

process the fear, anger, sadness, guilt surrounding the abortion experience
grieve the loss of the baby
Come to peace him/herself, God, and others involved in the abortion decision

Post Abortion Stress (PAS) is a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a disorder often experienced by veterans who have endured horrible war traumas.

Abortion is a trauma. Many women and men never consider the emotional aftermath of an abortion choice. Silently, women and men are suffering this significant loss in their lives alone, not reaching out for help fearing that someone may find out and therefore feeling helpless. Following is a description of how Post Abortion Stress develops and a questionnaire for you to discover if Post Abortion Stress affects you.

HOW DOES PAS DEVELOP?

(The steps leading to PAS)

The pregnancy is a crisis

bad timing
the wrong relationship
adverse circumstances
a sexual misadventure or coerced sex
lack of resources
endangered life plans
a medical problem for the mother and/or baby
age

A quick solution to the fear and anxiety of a crisis pregnancy is sought.
A “moral dilemma” develops: maternal instinct and/or God’s plan (Christians) vs. pressured circumstances.
The need for an immediate and expedient solution “wins” and the abortion is obtained. She enters into a brief “relief phase” (lasting anywhere from a few days to a few weeks) because, for better or worse, the crisis is FINALLY over.
The moral dilemma eventually resurfaces, and the decision to abort is now re-examined.
She either seeks counseling for the pain she is beginning to experience, or she employs unhealthy coping strategies and avoidance behaviors to protect against the pain. This “pushing down” of painful emotions/memories can be kept in place for years.

Symptoms of Post Abortion Stress

Following is a list of common Post Abortion Stress (PAS) symptoms. It is important to remember that not all women experience all the symptoms; some women experience only a few, while others identify with many of them. In addition, the onset of symptoms will vary from woman to woman and may occur immediately or may be delayed for many years after the abortion.

GUILT - What an individual feels when she has violated her own moral code (her own sense of right and wrong).

ANXIETY – An unpleasant emotional and physical state of apprehension, worry, and/or a sense of impending dread.

EMOTIONAL “NUMBING” - A person who has experienced a highly painful loss will guard against future situations which might be painful. They may no longer feel the full range of emotions, and the emotions they do experience may feel dulled. Many post-abortion women unconsciously vow to never let anything hurt this badly again and distance themselves from others.

DEPRESSION AND THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE – A mood filled with sadness, guilt, and feelings of hopelessness. While few post-abortion women reach the point of clinical depression, some do. They may experience severe prolonged episodes characterized by a sense of utter futility and a complete inability to experience pleasure from any source.

FLASHBACKS - A post-abortion woman can experience distressing, recurring “flashbacks” of the abortion, caused by environmental triggers such as pictures of prenatal development, a subsequent pregnancy, baby commercials, the sound of a vacuum cleaner, the whine of a dentist’s drill, etc. Recurring nightmares about babies are also common, involving themes of lost, dismembered, or crying babies.

FERTILITY AND BONDING ISSUES

Preoccupation with becoming pregnant again
Anxiety over fertility and childbearing issues: Interruption of the bonding process with present and/or future children

SURVIVAL GUILT/COMPENSATION - In an attempt to lessen the guilt of being the “survivor” of the abortion decision, some women will enter a heightened and unrealistic “compensation mode” whereby they attempt to atone for their choice to abort.

SELF-ABUSIVE/ SELF -DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIORS

Development of Eating Disorders
Alcohol and/or Substance Abuse
Other Self-punishing and/or Self-degrading Behaviors
Brief psychotic disorder

ANNIVERSARY REACTION - There tends to be an increase of Post Abortion Stress symptoms around the time of the anniversary of the abortion and/or the due date of the aborted child.

* Note - Research show that a high percentage of women are likely to have some symptoms of post-traumatic stress after abortion. Post-abortive women have higher trauma scores compared to women in a battered women’s shelter.

Information included in these pages has been compiled from various articles and publications by Teri Reisser and Martha Shuping, M.D. www.rachelnetwork.org.