Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Men: The Ignored Problem

Photo by Trevor Brown on Unsplash

With the advent of the #MeToo movement, the public has been forced to examine the horrific tragedy of women suffering at the hands of sexual predators. We have learned through marches and very public testimony of the damage women receive when their boundaries and dignity as human beings is violated.

However, there is another group of people who, because of societal restraints, suffer the same fate, only in silence. That group is men.

In a study published by Muenzenmaier, et.al.1, men were interviewed to see what types of child abuse they had experienced and found:

· 82.9% experienced physical abuse

· 18.9% experienced sexual abuse

· 5.4% witnessed sexual abuse

· 35% witnessed physical abuse

Men are not stoic stones that do not waver and cannot be harmed. If someone like this family member states he gets suicidal when going to work due to his trauma history, he should receive the same consideration and care as a woman would.

As one can see, men are not invulnerable.

In this series of articles, we shall examine together male victims of sexual violence, how complex post-traumatic stress disorder affects men, and how society…