Other things that might happen after you have been abused

After you have been abused, you might have flashbacks.

Flashbacks are when scary memories come back suddenly. 

The flashbacks might happen because of:

• smells
• sounds
• people
• places
• objects or things. 

If you know what made the flashback happen, you might be able to keep away from that thing or that person.

After you have ben abused, you might self-harm.

Self-harm is when you hurt yourself on purpose.

You might:

• cut yourself
• hit yourself
• scratch yourself
• burn yourself
• bite yourself.

Self-harm may feel like it is helping you, but there are better ways to help yourself. 

If you have self-harmed, or feel like you want to self-harm, it is important to talk to someone as soon as you can.

If you have flashbacks or self-harm because you have been sexually abused, it is important to remember it was not your fault.

The next part of our sexual abuse guide is about things that might help after you have been abused.

Or you can go back to the introduction to choose to go to a different part of the sexual abuse guide.