Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) And Brain Injuries

[National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE(7233)]

INTRODUCTION

Our immediate thoughts are on the military and football players when brain injury is the topic of discussion. These injuries can become life changing for the patient, and heart wrenching for loved ones who see an unfavorable difference in personality and disposition.

Those who suffer from Intimate Partner Violence (usually women), are individuals who also deserve recognition for brain injuries because they, too, experience debilitating cognitive issues. Many from this community lack awareness that they even have brain injuries, and could have experienced several over the duration of the abusive relationship from their partner.

THE KEY ASPECT THAT PLAYED A ROLE IN IPV

Domestic violence increased tremendously because of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdowns (Ballard, 2022) and (George, Wesley, & Geraghty, 2021).

“There are households where the pandemic has become a reason why family members finally interact with each other. In some cases, this helps to enhance the quality of relationships within a family. However, in families where there are abusive patterns, the home confinement and social isolation can be very dangerous to the victims” (George, Wesley, & Geraghty, 2021).

AN IMPORTANT FINDING

Ballard (2022) mentions a conference that was held earlier this year: Seeking Tomorrow’s Answers Together [STAT]. One of the topics was how COVID-19 affected mental health.

Lockdowns were detrimental for people in abusive relationships!

These are people who were literally held hostage by their abusers because the abusers had unlimited access to their victims.

Thus, lockdowns created a more dangerous existence for people who may have been already living with IPV.

CONCLUSION

Intimate partners, the medical community, safety forces, the various legal institutions, and society in general, all need to recognize that brain injuries due to the IPV epidemic is prevalent. Then, they can become aware of behaviors [symptomology] that are associated with those subjected to IPV (Costello & Greenwald, 2022), (Hillstrom, 2022), (Sutherland & Chakrabarti, 2022), and (Valera, 2022).

This knowledge can help remove misconceptions about these individuals, especially when they are confronted with life-and-death situations independent of their abusers.

Vikki

References

Ballard, J. (2022). From Pandemic To Endemic: Relationship Violence Due To COVID. Retrieved From https://www.du.edu/news/pandemic-endemic-relationship-violence-due-covid

Costello, K., & Greenwald, B. D. (2022). Update On Domestic Violence And Traumatic Brain Injury: A Narrative Review. Retrieved From https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35053865/

George, E. S., Wesley, M. S., & Geraghty, L. (Eds.). (2021). Cultural Studies. Marital Stress And Domestic Violence During The COVID-19 Pandemic. Retrieved From https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2021.1992085

Hillstrom, C. (2022). The Hidden Epidemic Of Brain Injuries From Domestic Violence. Retrieved From https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/magazine/brain-trauma-domestic-violence.html

National Domestic Violence Hotline. (2022). Here For You. Retrieved From https://www.thehotline.org/

Sutherland, P., & Chakrabarti, M. (2022). An ‘Invisible Epidemic’: Survivors Of Domestic Violence On Living With Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrieved From https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2022/01/20/survivors-of-domestic-violence-on-living-with-traumatic-brain-injury

Valera, E., PhD. (2022). Women’s Health. Intimate Partner Violence And Traumatic Brain Injury: An Invisible Public Health Epidemic. Retrieved From https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intimate-partner-violence-and-traumatic-brain-injury-an-invisible-public-health-epidemic-201812132708#:~:text=Intimate%20partner%20violence%20and%20traumatic%20brain%20injury%3A%20An%20invisible%20public%20health%20epidemic,-March%2017%2C%202022&text=While%20studying%20brain%20injuries%20in,consistent%20with%20possibly%20experiencing%20concussions.