I agree with the poster above who said that you should not mention anything in your personal statement that you wouldn't be prepared to comment on in an interview. I'm soon to be an MS4, and have had a related experience. In the "aftermath" of a sexual assault which occurred my last yr in undergrad, an "anniversary reaction" wound up exacerbating an underlying eating disorder, and I wound up taking a medical leave of absence during the beginning of my 2nd yr to deal with these issues. There are committees that determine your suitability to return (not so dissimilar to the admissions committees which decide your original entrance to med school), which may feel it is their duty to test your "recovery" from such a situation. While you may focus in a personal statement about how this experience has strengthened you, you still should try to be prepared for questions you really cannot prepare yourself for. One that sticks out most in my mind is a committee member that point blank asked me "Given your experiences with men and being sexually assaulted, how will you deal with examining and interacting with male patients?" Although I was floored at that time, feeling this question was totally inappropriate, I had to pull myself together and respond accordingly, which is tough when you are in a high-pressure situation such as an entrance (or re-entrance) interview. Also remember that the people who read your personal statement will be your future professors and deans, etc. I had to go into more detail of the incident and my health with the committee, and to this day, I still feel somewhat awkward around certain faculty/admin who I know have more info about me than I'd usually divulge.
Anyways, just thought I'd share my experiences. As I will be applying to residency programs this year, and I have my medical leave of absence,(which was more than one year), and the poor grades prior to this leave, to explain to upcoming program directors, I'll once again have to figure out how to approach this, i.e. how I will include it in my personal statement. I've discussed the issue with the Head of the dept here that I plan to pursue residency, and he feels I need to include it in my statement.
That being said, good luck to everyone in the application process. And healing wishes to those of you also dealing with recovery from assault and/or abuse.
Deb