David Livingston, Getty Images
When Mackenzie Phillips dropped her bombshell during an episode of Oprah, revealing that she had had an incestuous relationship with her father, John Phillips, for 10 years, controversy swirled. The revelation came on the heels of the publication of Phillips' memoir "High on Arrival," in which she accuses "Papa John" of The Mommas and the Papas of molesting her when she was 18.
Though Phillips says she doesn't remember if the incident at age 18 was the first time her father acted inappropriately with her, she acknowledges the sexual relationship continued for another decade and eventually became consensual. Phillips says she ended it when she became pregnant and didn't know if the father of the child was her own father or her husband; she decided to have an abortion.
Though some of Phillips' family members, including her stepmother Michelle Phillips, aren't convinced of the veracity of the former child star's revelation, the scandal has brought attention to an issue that is, more often than not, swept under the rug.
Thomas Nagy, Ph.D., Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine says he believes most incidents of incest never come to light and, as a result, countless individuals go without treatment.
He also states that it's impossible to say that incest that continues into adulthood is necessarily conducted on a consensual level. "When the victim encounters that abuser again in adulthood, in that moment, they've dissociated into an adolescent mindset again," he points out. That's why it's so important for victims of abuse to seek and stick with therapy for the long haul. "These victims have to grow boundaries and learn how to find a sense of self again."
"It's always traumatic in the long run," Nagy adds, whether the incest begins when a child is six or 17. "It's child abuse, and there is no such thing as consensual sex with a child."
Debra Borys, Ph.D., a Los-Angeles-based therapist specializing in issues of abuse and incest, agrees and points out that many victims of abuse ultimately start making accommodations in their own belief systems. Mackenzie, for example, has repeatedly stated that her father was not a bad man but rather suffering from mental illness. "The abusers become such a key attachment figure in the lives of their victims," Borys says. "And when it's been a long-term relationship started in childhood or adolescence, the victim may feel he or she is special to the abuser."
Nagy says in his experience it is rare to see adults continue in incestuous relationships once they've come of age, but it does happen. "It's a huge boundary violation that begins in pre-adolescence and adolescence, and those years of conditioning to be subservient just don't go away in adulthood," he explains. "It's easy to regress and dissociate and become an adolescent all over again."
If victims don't seek treatment, whether children or adults, long-term impacts can be many and may include everything from depression and substance abuse to nightmares, withdrawal and promiscuity. "The effects vary depending on age and whether or not the relationship was long-term," Borys adds.
The most common adult response to past incestuous sexual abuse, says Nagy, is the development of delayed onset post-traumatic stress disorder. "Adult victims will almost certainly have mood disorders as well as physical disorders like gastrointestinal problems or chronic pain," he explains.
