Some victims never discuss their rape with anyone and carry the burden of the assault alone. Burgess and Holmstrom (1974) call this the silent rape reaction, and in many ways, it is similar to RTS. Feelings of fear, anger, and depression and physiological symptoms still exist; however, they remain locked inside. In fact, those who take longer to confide in someone usually suffer a longer recovery period (L. Cohen & Roth, 1987).
The silent rape reaction occurs because some victims deny and repress the incident until a time when they feel stronger emotionally. This may be months or even years later. A student of mine, who had been raped 3 years earlier, was taking a course in psy-
chology and noticed with frustration that as she read each chapter of the textbook, she would become extremely anxious when she saw the word therapist. When she explored why this produced anxiety, she realized that she could read the word only as the rapist, and it frightened her. Perhaps her subconscious was letting her know that she was finally ready to work through the repressed experience. Slowly the memories of the rape came back, as did all of the pain and sorrow from the attack. After 2 months in counseling, she had worked through the memories sufficiently to feel that she was on her way to resolving her feelings about the rape.