Reflection Of Trauma Of Sexual Assault In Drawings Of Adults

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

The previous article focused on the topic of sexual abuse in children's drawings. However, for most of my professional life I have worked with adults. The number of psychiatric patients who have suffered the trauma of childhood sexual abuse is staggering. Experts cautiously call the figure no less than 80%. Once, being in a group of 9 patients, formed on a random basis, I realized that 8 of them, according to their stories, were sexually traumatized in childhood, one of them did not talk about it, was generally silent, but there were very serious reasons to suspect such an injury.

When I looked at the drawings of adult survivors of sexual abuse, I found that the themes and their depictions in the drawing are often similar to those in the children's drawings. Adults have learned to conform more to social norms, not to portray explicitly what they experienced during the trauma. Their drawings are rather symbolic.

Adults, as best they could comprehend the traumatic event, their drawings are more ordered, logical and differentiated. They are more expressive of the current emotional state without trying to establish a causal relationship.

However, comprehension and processing of traumatic material strongly depends on the degree of mental development of a person and the strength of repression mechanisms. For example, this drawing can be mistaken for a child's, although the patient is 65 years old. A very simple woman, the traumatic events of her childhood were supplanted and hidden behind the growing problems of personal relationships. However, the size that the trauma takes in her life, its consequences for the patient herself (a body made of red strokes, hanging in the air, the head is separated, there are no signs of being female) are clearly read in the drawing.

The next drawing is a self-portrait, although it is difficult to recognize. It expresses an extremely negative attitude towards oneself. The drawing shows chaos, disorientation, lack of differentiation.

Images of houses occupy a very large place among the drawings of victims of sexual violence. This is either the house where the trauma occurred (or took place for a long time), often with an indication of the place and designation of the rapist, or a house as a symbol of crumbling vitality.

It can be seen how much of these tragic events occupy a place in her life. So there is no more space for anything else. The rapist is depicted and signed. The drawing is monochrome, there is no ground line, as if the house had partially grown into the patient's subconscious. The treatment of this case is described in detail here:

Destructive processes in the image of a house as a symbol of personality can be seen very often.

I noticed that in the drawings near the house you can often find an image of a swing (unfortunately, I did not find an illustration of this example). The process of rocking, rocking, as in children with early deprivation, helps to dissociate, calm down, and escape from intolerable reality. Sometimes, according to the stories of patients, the swing was the only stable positive childhood memory, and it was possible to resort to their rescue help in difficult moments. It shocked me that the subject could replace communication and help me survive so much. Patients spoke of the swing with tenderness, as if it were a living being.

Fragmentation, splitting of the psyche, the transformation of these fragments into dangerous and evil creatures.

The clouds in the following figure, which, according to the canons of interpretation, belong to the sphere of the spiritual, mental, resemble the fragmentation of the upper figure.

Absorption by fear, restraint in a cramped space evoke an analogy with being in the womb, with the "unborn" person, degradation in the prenatal phase. Inside the "hideout" is written: "Protection? Help? Away?" - reflecting conflicting impulses of the patient.

The next drawing of another patient directly depicts her in an intrauterine state in the form of a fetus, nodding in its limited, relatively safe world, which, however, is subjected to rough influence from the outside. It draws attention to the fact that the self-symbol is strongly shifted to the left, into the region of the past, he sleeps, turned away from both the present and the future. The present, however, persistently knocks on her and disturbs the peace. The entire right side is blank. The future simply does not exist for the patient. The very image of the fetus in detail directly speaks of the mental state of the injured woman. She feels like this.

Here is another image of a limited world, but it already includes other living beings and even a person. In the figure, the author displayed his depression.

The traumatized person feels so defenseless in the outside world. A small gray figurine in a fetal position hovers in the air, trying to protect itself from the weather.

Very often there are paintings depicting anger in the form of dangerous creatures or natural disasters. The theme of volcanoes is especially popular. A patient with borderline personality disorder, describing the drawing, said that despite the appearance of a picturesque, peaceful landscape, it is all composed of volcanoes that are ready to explode at any moment.

By the way, this image of fingernails, which makes the finger look like a penis, is also typical for survivors of sexual abuse.

This trauma is so deep and destructive to the individual that it requires long, painstaking and very careful work in small steps. The therapist is likely to face strong manifestations of all kinds of defenses, from denial to direct aggression against him.

Of course, it is impossible to completely "erase" the consequences of sexual abuse. But you can, having lived through the process of mourning, leave in the past fears, rage, pain and deep sadness. In therapy, a traumatized person can see himself as completely different from what he is used to, realize his destructive patterns of behavior and, through the experience of relationships with another person, the therapist can change them to be more environmentally friendly in relation to himself and others.

As a result, instead of hate and contempt, come to self-compassion and self-acceptance. Overcoming trauma and starting from it, a person is capable of spiritual growth, called post-traumatic growth.

I would be glad to receive comments, questions and additions.