Found this today. Could be triggering
Good heavens I have feelings. I found the following today looking for some quotes. It made me feel very sad and damm pleased that I have this place.
Elderly mental patients tell of abuse when children
Annual Meeting 2000
Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland
Monday 3rd July to Friday 7th July 2000
Elderly mental patients have surprised psychiatrists by speaking for the first time about sexual and physical abuse they suffered as children.
Research has revealed high levels of abuse, suffered decades ago, in people whose mental problems struck when they were pensioners.
The patients, some of whom were in their 90s, had been admitted to hospital because of depression and other forms of functional mental illness.
Psychiatrists do not normally question elderly people about their sex lives. And the patients had not spoken out before because they had never been asked. So they harboured the memories of their suffering, but never forgot.
Dr Sarah Knight, specialist registrar at St George's Hospital, Tooting, South London, told how she started the research after being told by a "very difficult" elderly woman patient how she had been sexually abused by her husband "in a particularly horrific way".
"Questions routinely asked to younger patients are often omitted when interviewing the elderly," Dr Knight told the meeting. She had wanted to find out if elderly patients could tolerate being asked about their sex lives or whether they would be upset or embarrassed.
In a study conducted at Tolworth Hospital, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, she interviewed 58 patients aged 67 to 95, within two weeks of being admitted to hospital. The average age was 78.9 and most were suffering from depression.
Eight per cent of the women and 14 per cent of the men reported childhood sexual abuse. Some of their stories were "quite shocking". "None of this had been disclosed when the patients were younger," said Dr Knight.
In addition, 23 per cent of the women and 32 per cent of the men reported significant violence as children. And all of those who said they had been sexually abused were also physically abused.
The study also revealed that many of the patients had been in violent marriages, with 17 per cent of the women being physically assaulted by their husbands. And 43 per cent of the male patients admitted to assaulting their wives. Two thirds of the women who had been physically abused by their husbands said they had never disclosed the problem before.
More than a third of the men patients said they "had a problem with the wife" over sex, and a smaller proportion said their own sexual performance was at fault. Many of them said they felt very guilty about their sexual inadequacy and wished they could have taken Viagra.
Half of the men and a quarter of the women described themselves as sexually active.
When asked whether psychiatrists should ask such questions of elderly patients, 75 per cent said "yes". One told Dr Knight: "That's what you are there for".
"Most people felt reasonably comfortable talking about these areas," said Dr Knight. She recommended that a psychosexual history should be part of the routine information gathering for this group of patients.
The relatives, however, thought she should not be asking questions about sex. "I had a lot of anger from relatives," said Dr Knight.
Regards
Archnut
"And all that was left was hope"
Elderly mental patients tell of abuse when children
Annual Meeting 2000
Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland
Monday 3rd July to Friday 7th July 2000
Elderly mental patients have surprised psychiatrists by speaking for the first time about sexual and physical abuse they suffered as children.
Research has revealed high levels of abuse, suffered decades ago, in people whose mental problems struck when they were pensioners.
The patients, some of whom were in their 90s, had been admitted to hospital because of depression and other forms of functional mental illness.
Psychiatrists do not normally question elderly people about their sex lives. And the patients had not spoken out before because they had never been asked. So they harboured the memories of their suffering, but never forgot.
Dr Sarah Knight, specialist registrar at St George's Hospital, Tooting, South London, told how she started the research after being told by a "very difficult" elderly woman patient how she had been sexually abused by her husband "in a particularly horrific way".
"Questions routinely asked to younger patients are often omitted when interviewing the elderly," Dr Knight told the meeting. She had wanted to find out if elderly patients could tolerate being asked about their sex lives or whether they would be upset or embarrassed.
In a study conducted at Tolworth Hospital, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, she interviewed 58 patients aged 67 to 95, within two weeks of being admitted to hospital. The average age was 78.9 and most were suffering from depression.
Eight per cent of the women and 14 per cent of the men reported childhood sexual abuse. Some of their stories were "quite shocking". "None of this had been disclosed when the patients were younger," said Dr Knight.
In addition, 23 per cent of the women and 32 per cent of the men reported significant violence as children. And all of those who said they had been sexually abused were also physically abused.
The study also revealed that many of the patients had been in violent marriages, with 17 per cent of the women being physically assaulted by their husbands. And 43 per cent of the male patients admitted to assaulting their wives. Two thirds of the women who had been physically abused by their husbands said they had never disclosed the problem before.
More than a third of the men patients said they "had a problem with the wife" over sex, and a smaller proportion said their own sexual performance was at fault. Many of them said they felt very guilty about their sexual inadequacy and wished they could have taken Viagra.
Half of the men and a quarter of the women described themselves as sexually active.
When asked whether psychiatrists should ask such questions of elderly patients, 75 per cent said "yes". One told Dr Knight: "That's what you are there for".
"Most people felt reasonably comfortable talking about these areas," said Dr Knight. She recommended that a psychosexual history should be part of the routine information gathering for this group of patients.
The relatives, however, thought she should not be asking questions about sex. "I had a lot of anger from relatives," said Dr Knight.
Regards
Archnut
"And all that was left was hope"
