1. anxiety (worry),
   

2. depression,
   

3. aggression (attacking another person),
   

4. regressive behavior (going back to when one was younger -- often having lack of control over one's bladder and bowels),
   

5. nightmares,
   

6. loss of memory,
   

7. insomnia (not being able to sleep),
   

8. and poor self-esteem
   

• Preschoolers have more anxiety, nightmares, and sexual behavior. School-age children are more affected by fear, aggression, school problems, and regressive behavior. The behavior of adolescents includes depression. withdrawal, suicidal or self-injurious behaviors, insomnia, running away, and drug and alcohol abuse.
  

• eating disorders such as starving oneself or overeating are not unusual among men and women who have been sexually abused as children. Other effects include being alone, nightmares, physical problems with digesting food, depression, low self-esteem, and not being able to trust other people.
  

However, just because someone has some of the symptoms does not mean he/she has been sexually abused.

False Memory Syndrome

The estimates of the numbers of children who have been sexually abused continue to increase. Some experts are claiming that one in every 3 or 4 women has been sexually abused. With the increased attention to the issue, more and more adults are rediscovering abuse that supposedly happened in their childhood. Some self-help groups and therapists suggest that the cause of a women's problems could be childhood sexual abuse which she has forgotten. These memories are often discovered with the help of a therapist, often through hypnosis. Because the symptoms of past abuse vary, nearly everyone can find some symptom that might fit with abuse symptoms.

These discoveries are becoming so commonplace that some experts doubt the truth of some of these claims. The experts fear that if many claims are false, the public will lose it's sympathy for and not believe real victims of sexual abuse. Families who claim that there has been no sexual abuse (and where there is no proof of child sexual abuse) have been torn apart by terrible accusations of sexual abuse. Many parents have turned for help to the False Memory Syndrome (FMS) Foundation, an organization which brings parents together to help support them in their conflict with their sons/daughters and does research on false memories.