Hello All,

My (now ex) boyfriend recently came to understand that he was molested (by an authority figure) as a child. (11 at age of event, currently 23). For years he has suffered with chronic anxiety, stress, depression, suicidal thoughts and general feelings of worthlessness.

After having nightmares and slowly piecing together what happened to him he is now aware and able to acknowledge what happened to him. In the two weeks since this has occurred he has broken down.

I wanted to ask advice on something as well. He feels ashamed and embarrassed because talking about the abuse makes him become sexually aroused. I'm wondering if this may be a common occurrence among other survivors. He also has told me that his sex drive is different now that all this has surfaced.

I'm just wondering if this is common so at least he won't feel so alone in the matter. Any advice would be appreciated.

Abuse, especially for children, confuses and messes up sexuality.
I had mixed feelings about authority figures and males and sexuality for a long time-until I started to work on facing these and many abuse symptoms-depression, addiction, anxiety, low self esteem.

What help has he sought? Does he know about is site? Here are lots of good books and articles (?many listed on this site) that can help answer these and many questions.

I hope u urge him to reach out for help and find support.