Healing After Abortion
If you are hurting after an abortion, you are not alone. Many women and men suffer from depression, sorrow, grief, anger, anxiety and guilt following an abortion.
Abortion often leaves women and men with deep unresolved emotional wounds that can be difficult and very painful to think about, let alone work through to a place of peace and resolution. If you are hurting from an abortion or multiple abortions in your past, there is hope.
Abortion is a trauma and a significant loss. When the experience of abortion is kept a deeply guarded secret, it affects a woman in many, if not all, areas of her life. (See Men and Abortion for impact on men) It easily can become a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, often called Post Abortion Syndrome or Post Abortion Stress, commonly know as PAS. My favorite definition of a PTSD is, “An out of the ordinary, psychologically, traumatic event that is not okay to talk about.” Even when you want to talk about it most people don’t want to hear about it or don’t know what to say. We are here to help.
Common PAS Symptoms:
- Guilt and shame
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Anger
- Flashbacks or nightmares
- Psychological numbing
- Overprotective or unable to bond with children (avoidance of babies, and baby showers)
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Other self-destructive or self-punishing behaviors (eating disorders, abusive relationships, compulsive behaviors, etc.)
- Anniversary Reaction
- Trust and intimacy issues / relationship problems
The PACE program, through Healing Tears, offers counseling and education to help you work through the unresolved emotional conflicts left from an abortion experience to find the hope and freedom you are missing, and the peace and joy you can’t seem to find. The aftermath of abortion is enormous. It has impacted your whole life. Post Abortion Stress develops when you are not able to come to terms with the unresolved emotions left after an abortion. Avoidance and denial are not helpful in bringing resolution and healing.
Healing involves looking at the trauma and being able to process the buried feelings surrounding that event in your past. One of the best ways to do this is in a small group of other women who have also experienced abortion in their past. Being with other women takes away the isolation, helping you know you are not alone in your pain. A confidential small group also provides acceptance, support and a safe environment to do the necessary work of grieving. Recovery from abortion is a grief issue. It is about giving yourself permission to grieve and working through that grief to a place of freedom and peace. Healing Tears can help.