After being physically and sexually abused from infancy into her teenage years, Mary doesn't want a doctor to touch her unless it's absolutely necessary.
So going to appointments, where male nurses or physical exams are often emotional triggers, can be difficult.
"It's very rare to come across a health care provider that is informed in trauma at all, or that is aware in how to deal with patients that have gone through trauma," said Mary, a 36-year-old Neenah woman who is using a false name as she talks about her abuse and medical experiences.
Mary has anorexia. She has submitted letters to her specialists requesting, among other accommodations, that she not be weighed because it causes extreme anxiety. Still, on a recent visit, a nurse asked her to step on the scale.
[For more of this story, written by Katherine Lymn, go to http://www.postcrescent.com/st...ens-trauma/79126968/]
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