Abortion Post-Abortion Emotional Distress the

Abortion Post-abortion emotional distress The abortion debate Divergent opinions Extreme Ideologies Research on post-abortion emotional distress Driven by Ideology Consensus is most emotional responses are moderate Post-abortion emotional intervention Environment of abortion and Treatment should be as with any other life stressor Unique opportunity to access The issue of abortion is a hotly debated topic in many social, political and religious circles. The issue is complicated and controverter as it is in some people's eyes, a right to choose and in other's eyes an intentional death of human life.

The only thing that both camps agree in with regard to abortion is that there should be less abortions performed. Bullough 16) Ponnuru NP) Irwin 23) the issue gets even more complicated when looked at from an emotional level, as the after effects of abortion, on the part of the woman having it can be minimal at best and life altering and devastating at worst and this doesn't even consider the emotional effects abortion can have on the man.

Kalish 14) This work will address the issue of abortion from an emotional level by reviewing current research on the issue, discussing the two extremes of reactions, as well as the moderate middle ground and lastly the work will outline ways to ally emotional effects of abortion, when they occur. What I have learned from my research is that the controversy over abortion, in general has clouded the basic knowledge and research associated with the emotional effects of abortion, in the short- and long-term sense.

Though many social scientists and researchers conclude that the emotional effects for most women are relatively mild there is also research evidence, called by some biased that indicates that this is not the case and that most if not all women who have abortions have some, if not extreme emotional reactions to it. Over the last decade, a consensus has been reached in the medical and scientific communities that most women who have an abortion experience little or no psychological harm.

Yet a woman's ability to cope psychologically after an abortion continues to be the subject of heated debates. Vocal anti-abortion advocates claim that most women who have abortions will suffer to some degree from a variant of post traumatic stress disorder called post abortion syndrome, characterized by severe and long lasting guilt, depression, rage, and social and sexual dysfunction.

Why is there such a major discrepancy between the scientific consensus and anti-abortion beliefs? Arthur 7) The allegation that there are fabrication or at the very least, biases in the field of study, that create a situation where ideology drives research questions and findings. Though this is a dangerous precedence the real concern is that when there is emotional distress there is biased research guiding intervention and practice. Books written by anti-abortion advocates that deal with post abortion effects are, by and large, heavily infected with bias.

Not only is contrary evidence unrefuted, it is rarely even mentioned. Incorrect and out of date "facts" abound. The authors' pop psychology often seems to be based on little more than their own wishful projections about the nature of women and how they should feel. Arthur 7) or for another take on the subject, when there is no real concerning emotional response the idea that there is supposed to be according to research and anecdotal evidence may lead to distress because of guilt.

Similar to the guilt one feels when a loved one dies who has been struggling with dependence and pain, and the family feels a sense of relief when death actually occurs and then feels guilty about it later and becomes depressed. If these people then read anti-abortion literature, which would seem rather unwise at this time in ones life they are then confronted with a label as deviant, because they were to callous to care about the life of their unborn child.

Arthur 7) Probably, one of the most logical statements made by a nonbiased researcher and commentator on the subject of emotional effects of abortion is that; In spite of psychological problems suffered by a few women after abortion, the existence of post abortion syndrome is doubted by most experts. There is little need to posit a unique disorder in this case, since abortion is not significantly different from any other stressful life experience that might cause trauma in certain people.

Arthur 7) This trauma can then be dealt with in a logical and constructive manner, befitting any other stressful life event, such as the loss of a partner in a separation, being fired from a job or getting into a car accident. Depression, protracted grief or general feelings of guilt, when they occurs must be treated as a logical outgrowth of life stress not as a special case of social and emotional concern, because of the nature of the stress.

Arthur 7) Though this is not to say that the situation does not require consideration of emotions particular to the guilt, sadness and/or feelings of abandonment that could be directly and particular to the associated of abortion it does not need to be focused on in such a manner as to make the situation worse.

In fact the situation of abortion seeking is a particularly promising one when it is guised correctly, as the event of stress occurs in conjunction with the fact that there are clinically sensitive (hopefully) care providers available to the woman at the time of an hopefully after the event stressor. Counseling is a vital element of care, moving postabortion services from being purely curative to being preventive.

It helps providers determine when women need special care because of extreme emotional distress or circumstances such as young age, inexperience with the health care system or fear of discrimination.

Corbett, and Turner 106) The event if performed in an environment that is open and loving as well as nurturing and filled with open communication (not to say the decision should be made lightly or that it should be downplayed by the environment of care) the opportunity for intervention in the case of extreme or even moderate distress is right there at.