October 4, 2018 – Watching Christine Blasey Ford give emotional testimony before a Senate panel about an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh unleashed painful memories for many assault survivors. Harvard Chan School’s Karestan Koenen, a trauma expert and herself a rape survivor, discusses the nature of the emotions triggered by Ford’s testimony and the surrounding media coverage and strategies that can help.
Q: Can you describe some of the emotions that survivors may experience when faced with the overwhelming amount of news coverage of the Senate hearing and its aftermath?
A: When vivid details of sexual assault are portrayed in the media, it may bring up painful memories among people who have been assaulted themselves, even if they haven’t thought about it in a long time. They may begin to think about their assaults over and over, have dreams or nightmares about it, and may find themselves extra-anxious and on guard. They might also feel like they’re in danger in places where they usually feel safe. They may find themselves more irritable than usual in response to things that their friends or partners say. They may have trouble concentrating. They may experience shame, sadness, self-doubt, or anger.
Although the #MeToo movement has been in the news for months, seeing Christine Blasey Ford on TV describing an assault in detail, having her own emotional reaction, is more powerful than reading about it or hearing about it on the radio. Watching television involves multiple senses at once—we see it, we hear it—so the emotion hits us more deeply. And except for turning the TV off, you really can’t regulate what’s coming at you. If you’re reading, you can skim it or read part of it and put it down for later. I’m usually good about doing a media blackout or going offline to avoid disturbing stories in the news, but this was so pervasive—it was at the gym, at the office, everyone was listening to it and everyone was talking about it—that I could not get away from it and found it difficult. And I assume that it was even more difficult for many others.
Q: Can you suggest strategies to help people cope when sexual assault stories are covered in the media?
A: I have three pieces of advice that I use and give to others:
- Reduce your media exposure, particularly watching TV. For myself, I just get my news through my email feed so I can stay informed.
- Get outside, walk, do things that make you feel better physically.
- Get social support. Make sure you’re making time to see and interact with people that love you.
Those three things, which are pretty simple, can improve how people feel and help them better deal with disturbing news.
It’s normal to be upset about sexual assault experiences in the news, especially if you’ve had your own assault experience. But if negative feelings persist over several weeks to a month—especially if the news coverage dies down but you’re still not sleeping, you’re still feeling really anxious, you still can’t stop thinking about what happened to you, you’re missing work, you’re losing it at home because you’re so stressed—it might be time to get some kind of help. Posttraumatic stress is treatable and you do not have to suffer alone. You could call your local rape crisis center or call the National Sexual Assault Hotline [1-800-656-4673]. If you seek individual treatment, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies has a search feature to help you find a clinician who specializes in trauma. For information on treatments that work for posttraumatic stress, check out the National Center for PTSD’s website.
Q: Is there a silver lining to all of this?
A: Yes. There are now places where people can talk about their experiences and share them. That’s a big change. People can now talk about assaults more freely in public, in social media, in the New York Times. That is a positive effect. There’s now space for people to share their experiences that didn’t exist before—accessible space.
My own hope is that we’ll be able to translate all of this into better policy, better services for sexual assault survivors, better prevention strategies, better ways of dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. If we can translate it into positive changes that prevent future assaults and help those who have suffered, that would be the best outcome.