Israeli study: Trauma of rape harsher than shell shock
By Dan Even, Haaretz Correspondent
The first Israeli study to examine which types of trauma produce the most severe post-traumatic stress has found that rape victims' symptoms are far more severe than those experienced by victims of other types of trauma, such as traffic accidents, shell shock, serious illness or the death of a close friend or relative.
The study, conducted by Dr. Avigail Moor and Dr. Moshe Farchi of the social work program at Tel Hai Academic College, is based on questionnaires filled out by 341 adults who have experienced post-traumatic stress.
The questionnaire, originally developed by an American researcher, covers topics such as anxiety, uncontrollable memories of the traumatic incident, flashbacks, nightmares and feelings of guilt, powerlessness, despair and depression. A score of 15 or above (on a scale of zero to 51) indicates clinical post-traumatic stress disorder.
The researchers found that 25.6 of rape victims had scores in the top third of the post-traumatic stress scale (34-51 points), compared to only 11.4 percent of other trauma victims. The average score for rape victims was 22 points, compared to 17.5 for shell-shocked soldiers, 12.7 for people involved in traffic accidents and 12.6 for those with a serious illness.
Studies in the United States and Europe have similarly found that rape victims suffer more severe post-traumatic stress than other types of trauma victims.
"The purpose of the study is not to conduct a 'competition' among the severity of different traumas, but to open the public's eyes to the great severity of the emotional response to rape and to raise this issue to a higher position on the public's order of priorities," Moor said.
One major reason why rape victims experience more severe post-traumatic stress is that they experience much higher levels of guilt, the study found. Fully 46.2 percent of rape victims blamed themselves, as expressed in statements such as "I acted stupidly," compared to only 20.4 percent of other trauma victims.
Moor said the guilty feelings are exacerbated by the fact that when it comes to rape, society often blames the victim as well.
Another factor that makes rape a more severe form of trauma, Moor said, is that rape is a deliberate attack on the victim personally. That is not true for other trauma victims, even shell-shocked soldiers:, who are not targeted as an individual.
"It's important that those who treat [the victims] do not approach all trauma patients as an indistinguishable mass," Moor said. "They must look at the factors that distinguish different types of traumas."
Love 
