An Exploratory Study of Rape Survivors' Prescription Drug Use as a Means of Coping With Sexual Assault
Sturza, Marisa L. and Rebecca Campbell, Michigan State University
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29 (2005), 353–363.
Abstract:
In this study we examined rape survivors’ postassault use of prescription drugs, including sedatives, tranquilizers, and
antidepressants. In a community-based sample of 102 sexual assault survivors, 44% had used prescription drugs postrape.
Consistent with prior research on alcohol as a postassault coping mechanism, the current study found evidence that
some women were “self-medicating.” Fourteen percent of the women who had used prescription drugs postrape did
so without a doctor’s prescription and 50% obtained them through their physicians without disclosing the assault. Most
of these women did not disclose the assault to their physicians because they feared how they would respond. For the
remaining 36% of women using prescription drugs, there was evidence of the “medicalization” of rape. These victims
disclosed the assaults to their doctors, who in many cases responded by giving them a prescription for medication, which
made many of the survivors feel blamed and silenced. Implications for improving health care are discussed.