Abortion’s Aftermath

Depression After Abortion

Abortion’s Aftermath

God’s Love is Greater Than Anything I Have Done

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  John 3:16-17

Abortion reaches across all generational lines, whether the family realizes it or not. Each abortion impacts the current generation and the next generation, and so on. No matter the extend each family member has been involved abortion healing benefits all who have been touched by abortion.

Abortion typically inflicts trauma at a physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological levels. It often leaves a wake of broken relationships. Regardless of your involvement – or lack of – once abortion’s impact has become a reality in your life, it can cause trauma. If you are not the parent of the abortion child, then you are enduring secondary post-abortion distress. In simply seeking help by reading these words, this abortion truly has affected your life and already created a certain amount of trauma for you.

Please understand that women and men who have personally experienced abortion may have different and more intense symptoms. The indicators of abortion trauma can be troubling emotionally and possibly spiritually. However, it is different because you did not personally experience the trauma of the pregnancy and abortion.

Below are the symptoms related to post-abortion trauma which you may or may not recognize in yourself. Your level of involvement in the abortion can/may influence the level of distress and symptoms.

This may be the first time you realize how deeply impacted you have been by this abortion. Search your heart for anything in this symptom list that fits your life since this loss occurred. The simple recognition of areas of pain will ignite God’s healing process.

Be gracious to me, O God Be gracious to me, for I take refuge in You. I will seek refuge in the shadow of Your wings until danger passes. I call to God Most High, to God, who fulfills {His purpose} for me. He reaches down from heaven and saves me, challenging the one who tramples me. God sends His faithful love and truth. Psalms 57:1-3

Symptoms of Abortion Pain

Guilt. is what an individual feels when their own moral code is violated. For anyone who has come to believe, at some point either before or after abortion, that it is the killing of an unborn child, the burden of guilt is relentless. When people feel guilty, they can strongly believe that any unhappy event that has occurred since the abortion is because they “deserve it.” If you pressured, participated in the abortion decision, or accompanied the post-abortive person to the abortion clinic, your feelings of guilt are valid. A parent may feel responsible for their children’s actions and take on their children’s guilt on as their own.

Anxiety. Anxiety is defined as an unpleasant emotional and physical state of apprehension which may take the form of tension (inability to relax, irritability), physical responses (dizziness, pounding heart, upset stomach, headaches), worry about the future, difficulty concentrating, and disturbed sleep. The conflict between our moral standards and abortion generates much of this anxiety.

Psychological “numbing.” Secrecy is often involved with abortion. Cut off from help because of the secret, many feel they have no one to talk to.

Depression and thoughts of suicide. Anyone can experience depression from time to time, but the following forms of it are more common after abortion:

  • Sad mood—Ranging from feelings of sadness to total hopelessness.
  • Sudden and uncontrollable crying episodes
  • Deterioration of self-concept— Parents may feel deficient in their ability to protect their daughter/son from making bad decisions and choices. Feelings of being a “bad parent” are common.
  • Sleep, appetite— Patterns of insomnia, loss of appetite.
  • Reduced motivation— The normal activities of life no longer seem worth doing.

Disruption in interpersonal relationships. A lack of enthusiasm for all activities. This is especially evidenced in the relationship with the post-abortive person and others who may have been involved or supported the abortion decision when you did not.

Grief and guilt. May lead to turning to food as a means of coping or punishment for the action that was taken.

Anniversary syndrome. An increase of feeling depressed, having feelings of loss or sadness around the anniversary of the abortion and/or the due date of the aborted child.

Visualizing the abortion. If you have seen graphic pictures of aborted babies, those images can be very disturbing and may haunt your mind and thoughts.

Survival guilt. Parents who recommend abortion for their daughter/son, the decision to abort boils down to a sorrowful “it’s best for my child’s future.” But while the abortion frees them from the current trauma, it frequently produces an unrelenting guilt for choosing comfort over the life of the child.

Alcohol and drug abuse. Alcohol and drug use often serve initially as a form of self-medication—a way of coping with the pain of the abortion. Often the mental and physical consequences of alcohol or drug abuse serve only to amplify most of the symptoms one is already experiencing.

Answer the following questions:

On a piece of paper, list the symptoms that you are experiencing from the list above.

Which of these symptoms do you see in your related post-abortive person?

Read Luke 15:11–32, the story of the Prodigal Son, below:

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Answer the following questions:

Do you identify with the father? Why or why not?

Were any parts of the story unfamiliar to you?

What was your favorite part of the story?

How can you begin to apply this story to you?

 Complete the following:

Healing Activity 3.1 – This Abortion Story (below)

 

3.1 This Abortion Story

(Open PDF here)

This activity is designed to help you understand this abortion story that has occurred in your life.

Sydna Massé Email Signup

Hello, I am Sydna Massé Founder and CEO of Ramah International. I'd love to keep in touch and include you in our prayer chain as we continue to serve abortion's wounded and those considering abortion.

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