What are symptoms of distress?

Possible symptoms include indicators that are physical, emotional, spiritual and/or relational.   

Possible Physical Symptoms

• Depression
• Infection
• Excessive bleeding
• Fertility complications
• Increase risk of miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies
• Sleep, appetite and sexual disturbances
• Mutilation of female organs and/or genitalia
• Untreated severe bleeding or infection

Possible Emotional symptoms, indicative of Post-Traumatic Stress:

• self-destructive abuses of drugs, alcohol, food
• cutting, self-mutilation
• promiscuity
• neglecting health
• unexplained depression, crying, or rage
• bringing on unwanted consequences (absenteeism or incompetence resulting in job loss)
• suicidal thoughts
• preoccupation with pregnancy or getting pregnant again
• nightmares
• trigger events produce an increase in symptoms:  Mother’s Day, baptisms, Christmas, pregnant women, menopause, sounds of vacuum cleaner, baby crying; sights of doctors’ offices, bleeding, fetal pictures; smells of colognes, food, disinfectants associated with the abortion; touch from doctor, intercourse, being held on arm

Possible Spiritual symptoms:

• Feeling aliened from God
• withdrawal from Lord’s Supper, church, pastor and church friends
• “If the people at church knew, they would think I’m such a hypocrite”
• inability or reluctance to pray
• survival guilt “It was me or you and I chose me”
• inability to believe God’s forgiveness is for her; despair of God’s mercy
• anger at God for not stopping her pregnancy or for not stopping her from having the abortion
• belief that God will punish her

Possible Relational symptoms:

• 80% of the intimate relationships leading to pregnancy end after an abortion
• Friendships and familial relationships become more stressed due to complicity in the abortion decision or due to the shame and secrecy of having the abortion
• repeatedly entering and/or sustaining destructive and abusive intimate relationships
• inability to bond  properly with current or future children