Mental Health Effects of Domestic Violence

Women’s Mental Health and Domestic Violence

Sharma, K.K., Vatsa, M., Kalaivani, M. & Bhardwaj, D. (2019). Mental health effects of domestic violence against women in Delhi: A community-based study. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(7), 2522-2527.

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology and Sociology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses on mental health processes.

Sociology: It represents the field of sociology because it focuses on women’s experiences of domestic violence.

Summarize the tenets of the article: Domestic violence is a pervasive public health problem as it affects over one-third of women across the globe. Domestic violence occurs in various forms including physical, psychological, or sexual violence. As a result, it has varying impacts on the health and wellbeing of women or even male victims (Sharma et al., 2019). This community-based study carried out among 827 ever married women in Delhi shows that female victims of domestic violence have poor mental health status and suicidal tendencies. Therefore, these researchers conclude that domestic violence is inversely linked with their mental health.

Implications: The implications of this article are enormous for healthcare service providers and community health workers. These professionals should work towards identifying, intervening, and supporting female victims of domestic violence since victimized women tend to visit healthcare settings at some point in their lifetime. Additionally, these professionals should be sensitized on issues of domestic violence and trained adequately on how to handle victims.

Mengo, C., Small, E. & Black, B. (2017). Intimate partner violence and women’s mental health: The mediating role of coping strategies among women seeking help from the police. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(1-2), 527-551.

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology and Criminology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses on women’s mental health status in relation to the experience of intimate partner violence.

Sociology: It represents the field of criminology because it focuses law enforcement measures to prevent domestic violence.

Summarize the tenets of the article: There are many variables that explain the association between intimate partner violence and its effects on the mental health status of women. While intimate partner violence is a major public health problem worldwide, little is known about the psychological wellbeing of victimized women who report abuse to police departments. Using data from case records of women abuse by intimate partners, the study sought to determine how sociodemographic characteristics relate to the type and number of abuse incidents and mental health systems. From a sample of 154 victimized women, the study found that social support and coping strategies have significant impacts on women’s experience of domestic violence (Mengo, Small & Black, 2017). Therefore, coping strategies mediated the link between domestic violence by an intimate partner and mental health symptoms.

Implications: The implications of this article are enormous for mental health professionals and the police. Based on the findings of the study, mental health professionals should collaborate with the police to provide coping resources. Prevention and intervention efforts should also focus on empowering women with coping strategies that enhance their resilience and help mitigate the mental health effects of domestic violence.

Islam, M.M., Jahan, N. & Hossain, M.D. (2018). Violence against women and mental disorder: A qualitative study in Bangladesh. Tropical Medicine and Health, 46(5), 1-12.

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology and Sociology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses on mental health processes vis-à-vis the experience of domestic violence.

Sociology: It represents the field of sociology because it focuses on women’s experiences of domestic violence.

Summarize the tenets of the article: Domestic violence affects between 15-75% of women worldwide and has a significant impact on their rights, health, and wellbeing. While quantitative studies link domestic violence to poor mental health, there a lack of qualitative research on women’s experience of domestic violence and its mental health effects. The phenomenological research was conducted on a sample of 25 participants including victimized women, mental health professionals, and a key informant. The study found that victimized women with mental health disorders were victims of more than one form of domestic abuse (Islam, Jahan & Hossain, 2018). Domestic violence was found to predispose, precipitate, maintain, or cause mental health problems among female victims. However, mental disorders among victimized women depended on the nature and intensity of the domestic violence. In some cases, mental health disorder was the cause of domestic violence. Therefore, the nature and intensity of domestic violence determines the type of mental health disorders on victimized women.

Implications: The findings of this article have enormous implications for healthcare policy. Public health policies should incorporate culturally appropriate programs that seek to reduce domestic violence and their associated mental health consequences.

Oram, S., Khalifeh, H. & Howard, L.M. (2016). Violence against women and mental health. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(2), 159-170.

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses on the role mental health professionals can play in identifying and responding to domestic violence against women.

Summarize the tenets of the article: Domestic violence is recognized across the globe as an infringement of human rights and a public health issue. The Series paper portrays the idea that this issue is also a mental health problem. As a result, mental health professionals have a role to play in identifying domestic violence and responding to it in a more effective manner. While clinical guidance to do so exists, mental health professionals are seemingly unable to identify and respond to violence against women effectively. The study found that poor identification of domestic violence cases persists resulting in non-engagement with mental health services and poor response to treatment (Oram, Khalifeh & Howard, 2016).

Implications: The implications of this article are enormous for mental health professionals as it demonstrates a strong link between domestic violence and mental health problems. There is need for improvements in identification and treatment of female victims of domestic violence by mental health professionals. Mental health services should be incorporated into primary and secondary prevention measures against domestic violence.

Soron, T.R., Ashiq, A.R., Al-Hakeem, M., Chowdhury, Z.F., Ahmed, H.U. & Chowdhury, C.A. (2021). Domestic violence and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. JMIR Formative Research, 5(9).

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses on identifying perceptions of domestic violence survivors on mental healthcare.

Summarize the tenets of the article: Domestic violence affects approximately 35% of women across the globe, which implies it is a universal problem. With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, mental health conditions increased in prevalence as many people were working from home. The cross-sectional web-based study sought to determine the perceptions of victimized women regarding mental healthcare in Bangladesh. The study found that the most common form of domestic abuse is psychological abuse followed by economical abuse. Additionally, it found that while 96.3% of victimized women need mental health support, only 25% are aware of the available mental health services (Soron et al., 2021). Therefore, there is need to increase awareness on the available mental health services for victimized women.

Implications: The implications of this article are enormous for mental health services given that domestic violence is recognized as one of the renowned stressors with direct effects on physical and mental health. Mental health professionals and other public health professionals should work toward increasing awareness of the available mental health support services for female victims of domestic violence. These efforts could entail the use of telepsychiatry to provide immediate mental health support to this population.

Koirala, P. & Chuemchit, M. (2019). Depression and domestic violence experiences among Asian women: A systematic review. International Journal of Women’s Health, 12, 21-33.

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses mental health problems facing female victims of domestic violence.

Summarize the tenets of the article: Domestic violence is a term used to refer to partner violence though it incorporates elder/child abuse or abuse by any member of a household. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse are the most common forms of domestic violence perpetrated by intimate partners. Postpartum depression one of the major causes of maternal mortality and morbidity. With increasing evidence of the link between domestic violence and postpartum depression, the study sought to establish the association between the two among victimized women in Asia. Through a systematic review of 38 studies with a total of 37,087 participants, the study found that there were 1.6 to 7.1 higher odds of postpartum depression among female victims of domestic violence (Koirala & Chuemchit, 2019). Therefore, these researchers concluded that domestic violence is strongly linked to postpartum depression.

Implications: The study’s findings have implications for the mental health field since maternal mental health is one of the neglected areas of healthcare across the Asian continent. Mental healthcare workers and other public health professionals should be trained on identifying women who are vulnerable to domestic violence and how to offer mental health support to them. This would require changes in public health policies at the national and global levels.

Ferrari, G., Agnew-Davies, R., Bailey, J., Howard, L., Howarth, E., Peters, T.J., Sardinha, L. & Feder, G.S. (2016). Domestic violence and mental health: A cross-sectional survey of women seeking help from domestic violence support services. Global Health Action, 9, 1-10.

Social science discipline the article represents: Psychology.

Psychology: It represents the field of psychology because it focuses on the mental health of female survivors of domestic violence.

Summarize the tenets of the article: Physical or sexual abuse are the most common forms of domestic violence with a reported lifetime prevalence of between 15 and 71% worldwide. Violence against women is strongly associated with the increased risk of mental disorders. However, there is little evidence regarding the mental health of female survivors of domestic violence who are seeking support from domestic violence services. Through a randomized controlled trial conducted among 260 women, Ferrari et al. (2016) found that female survivors of domestic violence have high levels of anxiety and depression, especially PTSD. Additionally, they found that mental illness symptoms increase with increased severity of domestic violence.

Implications: The implications of this article are enormous for the field of mental health professionals and psychiatry. Mental health professionals and psychiatrists need to be aware that patients with mental health problems could be victims of domestic violence and abuse. Therefore, they should provide trauma-informed psychological support services to survivors of domestic violence who are seeking support from domestic violence services.