Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Winter 2017-18 - 16

Silence is Golden - or is it?
continued from page 15
For information about reporting
sexual harassment in the workplace
by filing a charge of employment
discrimination with the U.S. EEOC
(Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission)
Call 1-800-669-4000 or visit the
EEOC Public Portal online
For victims of sexual abuse or assault:
Safe Berks
4/7 Hotline: (844) 789-SAFE (7233)
or text: safeberks to 20121
SAM Mental Health Crisis and
Emergency Services
Hotline: (877) 236-4600
or text: ruOK to (484) 816-ruOK (7865)
PA Coalition Against Rape
Support Services
(888) 772-7227
National Domestic Violence
Hotline
(800) 799-7233

counseling and reassurance that they are safe and well and totally normal for feeling pain
and distress over these horrendous incidents?
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, in a large national study
published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014, almost 1 in 5 (ie.
approximately 23 million women) in the United States have been raped in their lifetime.
Almost 1 in 71 men (ie approximately 1.9 million men) in the United States have been
raped in their lifetime. Almost 43.9 percent of all women and 23.4 percent of all men
surveyed experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetime (sexual coercion,
unwanted sexual contact, noncontact unwanted sexual experiences and sometime rape).
There is no way to quantify the amounts of friends and family members who are also
traumatized by how these events affect their loved one (the victims). What we do know,
is that for everyone impacted by sexual trauma of any kind, the physical and psychological
effects can be devastating in the short and long term. So, where do we turn to for help?
First of all, please reach out to your doctor and if you already have a counselor, please
reach out to that person for help. If you don't feel comfortable reaching out to your doctor
or counselor, I have listed some local and some national resources to the left to assist you.
Please know that if the recent events playing out in the news is distressing to you or if there
is something else currently happening in your personal life that is negatively impacting
your health and/or your well-being, know that you are not alone. There are plenty of
resources for you. Please take that first step. Reach out to your friend, your doctor,
your pastor, your therapist, your advocate. Do NOT suffer in silence. Rest assured that
statistically, no matter where you are, there is more than one other person in the room who
has endured the unthinkable and is striving today. Know that that person can be you.
This article originally appeared in Medicine & Health Winter 2017.
Reprinted with permission of the Delaware CountyMedical Society.

Pediatric and Adult Patients
Treating Ear, Nose, Throat Problems
Thyroid Nodules, Neck Masses & Sinusitis

Physicians:
James P. Restrepo, M.D., FACS, ECNU
Charles K. Lutz, M.D., FACS
Jeffrey S. Driben, M.D., FACS, ECNU
Scott J. Cronin, M.D.
ER
NN

2 017

Nurse Practitioner:

Rosemarie Montgomery
MS, CRNP, FNP-C

Providing diagnostic and rehabilitative services for all types of hearing
loss, for any age group.
Hearing and Balance Disorders
State of the Art Hearing Aid Fittings
In House Hearing Aid Repairs

Audiologists:

Kathleen D. Vivaldi, AuD, FAAA
Melanie A. Appler, AuD, FAAA
Matthew R. Bonsall, AuD, FAAA

www.berkscms.org

ENT Head & Neck Specialists, PC
985 Berkshire Blvd., Wyomissing
610-374-5599 * www.ent-hns.net

http://http:// http://www.ent-hns.net http://berkscms.org/

Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Winter 2017-18

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Winter 2017-18