After Abortion

If you have ever had an abortion, you probably feel very much alone with the memories of your experience. Perhaps the father of the baby has long since passed out of your life. Or it seems like no one wants to hear about your pain anymore. Have you just stuffed your struggles down, in a desperate hope that the pain will go away….

“Post Abortion Stress Syndrome” (PASS) is the name that has been given to the psychological after-effects of an abortion, and is based on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post Abortion Stress Syndrome is not a term that is accepted by the American Psychiatric Association or the American Psychological Association. However, any event that causes trauma can indeed result in PTSD, and abortion is no exception.*  PASS can develop when a woman is unable to work through her emotional responses resulting from an abortion. The grief she may feel after an abortion is seldom acknowledged, but is often repressed or denied. PASS may occur within a few months following an abortion, or it may surface many years later. You may recognize some of the symptoms of PASS in yourself:

• Guilt (results from violating one’s own sense of right and wrong)
• Anxiety (headaches, dizziness, pounding heart, abdominal cramps, muscle tightness, difficulty sleeping, etc.)
• Avoidance behaviors (of anything remindful of pregnancy and children)
• Psychological “numbing” (the unconscious vow to never let anything hurt this badly again, which can hamper the ability to enter fully into an emotional, intimate relationship)
• Depression
• Re-experiencing events related to the abortion
• Preoccupation with becoming pregnant again (representing an unconscious hope that a new pregnancy will replace the baby that was aborted)
• Anxiety over fertility and childbearing issues (being convinced that God will punish by withholding future pregnancies
• Interruption or disruption of the bonding with present and/or future children (underbonding or overbonding with other children, whether born before or after the abortion)
• Self-abuse/self-destructive behaviors
• Anniversary reactions

If you have had an abortion and are battling post-abortive syndrome, please come into The Center. In a safe, caring, and confidential environment we can listen to your story, work through the grieving process with you, and help you find hope and joy for the future.

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“I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths…I called to you for help and you healed me…Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning….You turned my wailing into dancing, You removed my sackcloth and crowned me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent!”

~ Taken from Psalm 30 ~

*Post Abortion Stress Syndrome ~ Does It Exist?