Title: Mental Health Impact of Rape
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Content: Mental Health Impact of Rape
The Mental Health Impact of Rape
Dean G. Kilpatrick, Ph.D.
National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center
Medical University of South Carolina
The National Women's Study produced dramatic confirmation of the mental health impact of rape. The study determined comparative rates of several mental health problems among rape victims and non-victims. The study ascertained whether rape victims were more likely than non-victims to experience these devastating mental health problems. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The first mental health problem examined was posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an extremely debilitating disorder occurring after a highly disturbing traumatic event, such as military combat or violent crime. Almost one-third (31%) of all rape victims developed PTSD sometime during their lifetime; and more than one in ten rape victims (11%) still has PTSD today. Rape victims were 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who had never been victims of crime (31% vs 5%). Rape victims were 5.5 times more likely to have current PTSD than those who had never been victims of crime (11% Vs 2%). The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are approximately 96.3 million adult women in the United States age 18 or older.