POST ABORTION SYNDROME
1. Symptoms
2. Defense Mechanisms
3. Beyond Psychology
4. A Spiritual Death
The Symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome
Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS) is a term the encompasses the common emotional and behavioral symptoms that appear over time in women who have experienced abortion.
Post-Abortion means after an abortion. Syndrome is a group of signs or symptoms that occur together characterizing a disease or behavioral problems. So Post-Abortion Syndrome is anything that is causing problems in life that you cannot overcome. The following is only a partial list of symptoms that have been prominent in most cases of PAS.
INWARD SYMPTOMS
Guilt
Depression
Anger/Rage
Sorrow/Sadness
Remorse/Regret
Self-hatred/Unworthiness
Condemnation/Hopelessness
Numbed Emotions
Isolation/Withdrawal
OUTWARD SYMPTOMS
Drug/Alcohol/ Eating Disorders
Personality/Moral Changes
Personal Relationship Problems
Physical Complications
Promiscuousness
Atonement Pregnancies
Nightmares/Sleep Disorders
Avoid going to a Doctor
Distrusting others/ Trouble Making Decisions
These problems can arise one year or ten years (or more) after your abortion(s). Time is not a factor in PAS. During these sessions we will identify and discuss these symptoms and others as they apply to you. Knowing what or who you are fighting is the first step to being free.
DO THE FOLLOWING EXERCISES:
1. What outward and inward manifestations are troubling you now?
2. Have you had problems in the past that you have overcome?
3. Do you have any problems that you feel control your behavior?
4. Did you have any of these symptoms before your abortion(s)?
5. Are there symptoms that have been a part of your life that are not on the list?
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
A defense mechanism is an unconscious mental process that enables our feelings to reach compromise solutions when we have a problem that is too big for us to handle.
Defense mechanisms are not necessarily bad. For instance, suppression could help us to face only the part of a problem that we have the mental capacity to handle. For example, a person that has been abused as a child may not need to remember every horrible detail in order to be healed of the psychological damage they incurred at that time.
This mental activity can be destructive in our lives if we refuse to face our responsibility to change when we have an understanding of our problem.
Have you been using any of the following mechanisms?
SUPPRESSION: Conscious effort to exclude painful memories, therefore you would not remember details?
REPRESSION: an unconscious effort to exclude painful memories. This could be the way the enemy (Satan) gets a stronghold on you. But it can also be God protecting you.
RATIONALIZATION: Providing plausible but not truthful reasons for your actions. Example: Blaming others for your abortion.
COMPENSATORY: Over compensation in another area. For example having another child and being overly protective of them.
REACTION FORMATION: Covering the way you really feel by acting the opposite. Example: Laughing and acting silly when you are really very sad.
DENIAL: Refusal to admit to your abortion(s). (Until a person is willing to come out of denial they cannot be helped)
Now that we are working through the after-math of your abortion(s) are you willing to let go of these defenses?
Read the following Scriptures:
Proverbs
BEYOND PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is the science of the mind. A psychological problem would be some thought or thoughts that are affecting your mind and behavior. Post-Abortion Syndrome is more than a psychological or behavioral condition, but rather a spiritual manifestation of our estrangement from Divine Love.
The Psalmist had problems in his mind and write out those those that relate to how you are feeling at this time.
>Psalm 31:9, 10
>Psalm 55:4, 5
We are a three part being. God made us spirit, soul and body. Abortion affects all three aspects of our person and we may feel wounded and broken all over. These wounds reach far deeper than our conscious mind or even into the shadows of our memory, they reach into the very essence of our being which is our spirit. That is why you sometimes feel that you can bear it no more.
"The spirit of a man can endure sickness, but a broken spirit who can bear?" Proverbs 18:14
ABORTION- A SPIRITUAL DEATH
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I sanctified you." Jeremiah 1:5
When you chose physical death for your child (children) you experienced a spiritual death and that spiritual death brings about the broken feelings. God's plans for you and your children were aborted.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; thereforth choose life, that you and your descendants may live." Deuteronomy 30:19
From the beginning, God has given us choices. You can choose your way or His way. His way brings life. Choosing your way is sin. We all have sinned. No one escapes sin, not a Pastor, your parents or even the people sitting beside you at church. We all need the mercy of God and His forgiveness. We also need the grace of God not to sin no more. All sin is an act against Gods' plan for us, but some sin (like abortion) causes more devastation to us and to those involved.
Compare lying to your husband about not mailing the mortgage payment with committing adultery with his best friend. Lying and adultery are sin. Both sins violate the love and trust between you and your husband, but the extent of the injury to your relationship depends on the nature of the violation. The sin of adultery is far more grievous to your relationship than the lie. By its very nature, adultery betrays the foundation upon which you and your marriage draw strength and nourishment.
The same can be said of the sin of abortion. God has given all women a natural desire to nurture and a fundamental awareness of the sacredness of life. When conception occurs this maternal instinct physically manifests itself in the hormonal changes within a woman’s body. Adam named the first woman Eve, meaning "Life giver" and "Mother of all living" describing her character and her calling. Having an abortion betrays a woman's nature. Having an abortion betrays her very purpose of creation, her calling. Having an abortion destroys relationships, bringing death into a woman's inner most being.
Read 1 Kings 3:16-17
God had imparted wisdom to King Solomon. He knew the real mother would never permit him to cut her child in half. Love always means sacrificing one's own interest for another, especially in the case of a mother's love for her child. Even non-Christian women, who experience abortions, have a sense they have committed some wrongdoing.
Some women have compared their abortion experience to being raped, in that both acts are inherently violent and degrading. Both abortion and rape violate our femininity, our sense of who we are as women. This can lead to confusion about our identity and leaves us with a negative self-concept. How often have you told yourself "Who cares what happens to me now?" or "What's the use, I will never be happy?"
Faced with a gnawing sense of guilt and raped of any dignity or purpose, aborted women, Christian and Non-Christian alike, attempt to suppress their feelings, rationalize away their guilt, or become filled with despair.
Let's go back to our example of lying and committing adultery. Even though neither sin can be undone, repairing the damage of the lie is easier than repairing the damage of the adultery. Telling the truth, mailing the payment and promising not to lie again seems to rectify the situation and mend the broken trust, but how can one so easily rectify the deep wounds of adultery?
"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." 1 Corinthians 6:18
So it is with abortion. Damage has been done that only God can repair. Nothing you can do will bring back your child. How can you, with your own power and wisdom, heal your broken spirit and restore your shattered relationship with God and with your child? Only God has the power to heal and transform your sorrow into joy. If you refuse to surrender to the love and mercy of God, you may become trapped in a never-ending cycle of self-condemnation, self-punishment or the "I'll fix it myself" mode. What is the result of this kind of thinking? You have to be your own judge and set your own sentence. When have you punished yourself enough? You become your own jailer. Then you have to become your own Savior. You do not love yourself as much as God loves you! A love that paid the price of redemption.
Your relationship with the Lord prior to abortion will determine where you are now in the healing process. Some women will feel that they have to hide this part of their life, never allowing the healing light of Jesus Christ in, believing that God could never love or forgive them. Some women withdraw from their church, isolating themselves is spiritual darkness, feeling others could never forgive them. Other openly denounce their faith, choosing the path of rebellion.
"He who covers his sin will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." Proverbs 28:13
A SPIRITUAL DEATH
Do the following exercises to evaluate where you are with God.
1. What was your spiritual life like before the events leading up to your abortion?
2. What was your relationship with the Lord after your abortion(s)?
3. How would you describe your relationship today?
4. What do you hope your relationship will be like in the future?
5. Read Matthew 13:4-9 and 18-23
According to verse 19, who snatches away the word sown in the heart? Why can he snatch it?
Verse 21 What causes us to stumble? Why do we stumble?
Verse 22 What chokes the word? What do we become then?
Verse 23 What happens when our heart is good ground? What two things do we have to do?
Pray for your heart to be good ground. This is God's will for you so He will accomplish that which you ask.
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Proverbs 28:13
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