ST. ANNS, N.S. — Dr. Kent Cadegan knows how trauma can detrimentally affect someone's health and quality of life.
Not only does the family physician see this in some of the patients he treats, but he also has post-traumatic stress disorder by proxy because his father was a war vet. Also known as second-hand trauma or vicarious trauma, psychology publications explain it can happen in children when they learn about a life-threatening traumatic experience their parent has lived through, such as the Holocaust or a war.
"I've spent my life trying to learn about PTSD," Cadegan said. "In 1989, I took my first course. And through my years of learning about PTSD and studying it, I've found many with complex PTSD were childhood sexual abuse survivors."
This is why Cadegan started the Recovery Ride, a three-day cycling trip around the Cabot Trail, to raise awareness for childhood sexual abuse and help survivors realize they aren't alone and they can heal.
"In the 1980s and 1990s, nobody wanted to hear these stories," he said. "It's a public health issue that's not being addressed. Fifteen per cent of our population (are survivors of childhood sexual abuse and) suffer lifelong (physical and/or mental health ailments). This is unnecessary."
Statistically, one in five girls and one in 10 boys have been victimized through sexual abuse, however, it is widely known many cases are never reported.
"Most (sexual assaults) are never reported. Most rape victims never report their abuse. Most child sexual abuse victims never report and live a life of shame, headaches, tummy aches, anxiety and other mental health issues," he explained.
"And what the medical profession does is they treat the headache, they treat the tummy ache, they treat the anxiety. ...The person is given 10 different (medicines) but the cause of the problem isn't treated."
The three-day Recovery Ride starts and finishes at the Gaelic College in St. Anns. Aiming to educate people about how common childhood sexual assault is and that there are cures for childhood traumas, the Recovery Ride also raises money for a non-profit organization.
For the past two years and 2020, the money will be donated to Hope House — a live-in recovery facility for women with substance abuse such as alcoholism or drug dependency.
Cadegan decided to donate to Hope House because he knows many of their clients have suffered childhood traumas like sexual abuse.
Donations to this year's Recovery Ride can be made to https://www.cbhope.ca/give and charitable tax deductions are available.