Julia

Last week on Loveline, Dr. Drew Pinsky insinuated that a man’s fiancée who suffered from a variety of pelvic disorders, like endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, really needed to see a trauma specialist rather than her doctors because she had been the victim of sexual abuse as a child—these disorders somehow weren’t “real” but were manifestations of psychological trauma. Maybe even psychosomatic, though he seems to hedge on this point.

First and foremost, even if they were a direct result of her trauma, it doesn’t make them any less “real.” Millions of women have been victims of sexual assault and abuse; millions of men have been victims of sexual assault and abuse. Physical manifestations of psychological trauma are still physiological because the brain and body are not separate entities. Dr. Drew should know better.