Diverse psychiatric presentation associated with child sexual abuse: Case series

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) occurs when a person involves the child in sexual activities for his/her sexual gratification, commercial gain, or both. We report a series of 12 cases of CSA, who presented to the psychiatry department with diverse psychiatric presentations associated with CSA. In most of these cases, the perpetrator was unmarried and known to the child. The presentation was varied with patients being diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, acute and transient psychotic disorder, dysthymic disorder, recurrent depressive disorder, acute stress reaction, conversion disorder, borderline personality disorder, and moderate depressive episode with somatic symptoms. Individual and family counseling was an important part of management of these cases along with pharmacotherapy. More vigilance about CSA and mental health in all categories of health–care personnel would help in early detection and timely management of these cases.

Keywords

• acute and transient psychotic disorder
• acute stress reaction
• borderline personality disorder
• child sexual abuse
• conversion disorder
• depressive disorder
• dysthymic disorder
• obsessive–compulsive disorder
• schizophrenia