There are a number of distressing psychological conditions that can occur as a result of being raped. One study broke down these reactions into a number of categories. These reactions are likely to occur during the rape. They include the following:

Panic/Psychological Arousal:
dizziness, chest pain, shortness of breath, hot flashes, physical numbing, nausea, choking, sweating, fear of going crazy or of losing emotional control.

Cognitive/Fear:
feeling fearful, trembling or shaking, fear of death or serious injury, reactions of helplessness, confusion, and surprise.

Interpersonal:
embarrassment, guilt, feeling ashamed, and violated trust.

Dysphoria:
anger, disgust, and sadness.

Numbing/Unreality:
unreality, emotional numbing, and detachment (as if in a dream).

These symptoms are acute reactions to a stressful situation. The presence of these acute stressors, however, are usually indicators of the development of a more chronic syndrom.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can often result from being a rape survivor. The acute physiological panic responses one experiences as a result of being a survivor of rape constitutes a "true" alarm reaction that may become part of a network of conditioned cues that persists as longer term physiological symptoms of PTSD. Physiological arousal could trigger the stressful responses post-rape.

Criteria for PTSD:
A. The person has experienced an event that is outside the range of usual human experience and that would be markedly distressing to almost anyone.

B. The traumatic event is persistently re experienced in at least one of the following ways:

1. recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event

2. recurrent distressing dreams of the event

3. sudden acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring

4.intense psychological distress at exposure to events that symbolise or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event including anniversaries of the trauma.

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma or numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by at least three of the following:

1. efforts to avoid thoughts or feelings associated with the trauma.

2. efforts to avoid activities or situations that arouse recollections of the trauma.

3. inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma.

4. markedly diminished interest in significant activities.

5. feeling of detachment or estrangement from others.

6. restricted range of affect.

7. sense of foreshortened future.

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by at least two of the following

1. difficulty falling or staying asleep

2. irritability or outbursts of anger

3. difficulty concentrating

4. hypervigerlance

5. exaggerated startle response

6. physiologic reactivity upon exposure to events that symbolise or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.
E. Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in B, C, and D) of at least 1 month

Treatment can greatly reduce the risk of developing PTSD as a response to a traumatic event, such as being raped. Often times the development of PTSD is due to the anticipation of anxiety, of thinking about the event, worrying about it happening again, stressing about the “shameful” nature of being a survivor. Early distress predicts longer term PTSD. Trying to reduce post-trauma panic symptoms early after someone has experienced a rape may help to prevent chronic PTSD by causing a reduction in initial distress level post-rape.