Embracing Optimism Even When Life Seems Unfair

About a year ago, I entered trauma therapy. For the first time I was honest with myself about the sexual abuse I experienced as a child. It opened a floodgate and shame, disgust, resentment, and depression rushed in. I’m happy to say that today those feelings are lessened or absent completely. I started working out a lot and traded a lot of fat for muscle. Every inch of me is now shaped differently. I’m the fittest and strongest I’ve ever been in my life. And yet I’m also sick. The stress of the past year did a number on my body. I was recently diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN II). Stress can have a variety of adverse effects on health. It also happens to be associated with HPV-related health problems, which is quite common. However, too few people understand what human papillomavirus actually is. There are more than 200 different forms of the virus, some of which cause cancer. The virus is spread through skin to skin contact and cannot be prevented by the use of condoms. There’s no treatment for HPV infection. Usually, the immune system clears the virus on its own. The problem is that while the virus is active in a the body it’s changing cells in the infected area, most commonly the cervix. Almost all cervical cancer is caused by HPV. It’s also linked to the majority of vulvar, vaginal, penile, anal, and throat cancers. Currently 79 million Americans have HPV. At some point in their lives nearly every sexua...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Health-related Mental Health and Wellness Personal PTSD Sexuality Stress Trauma Cancer Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia Child molestation Child Sexual Abuse CIN II Depersonalization Dissociation dysplasia Exercise HPV vac Source Type: blogs