For many survivors of domestic violence, the experiences they endure are the source of ongoing trauma and have a lasting impact on their mental and physical well-being. Being in a situation with intimate partner violence can often mean experiencing fear, uncertainty, and emotional distress on a daily basis. The effects of the trauma are long-lasting, even after a survivor reaches safety. Understanding the connection between domestic violence and post-traumatic stress disorder is a meaningful step in healing.
What Is Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors used to gain or maintain power and control over a current or former intimate partner. It can occur in relationships of any age, gender, background, or length, and it often involves more than physical violence. This can look like:
- Emotional abuse: constant criticism, manipulation, intimidation, humiliation, threats, or isolating someone from friends, family, and support systems.
- Financial abuse: controlling money, restricting access to bank accounts, sabotaging employment, withholding funds for basic needs, or demanding control over a partner’s income or benefits.
- Physical abuse: hitting, slapping, pushing, choking, restraining, trapping a partner, driving recklessly to cause fear, or preventing access to medical care or emergency services.
- Sexual abuse: forcing or coercing sexual activity, ignoring consent, restricting access to birth control, or using sexual acts to shame, control, or humiliate a partner.
What Is PTSD?
PTSD is a psychiatric mental health condition that can develop after an individual witnesses or experiences a traumatic event. This can cause persistent and severe stress that disrupts day-to-day life long after the danger has passed. Not every survivor of domestic violence will experience PTSD, but that doesn’t make an experience more or less valid. Because abuse often occurs repeatedly over time (as opposed to an isolated event), survivors endure long exposure to trauma.
Why Domestic Violence Can Lead To PTSD
Domestic abuse is often endured over long periods of time, where survivors live in a constant state of fear, never knowing when the next incident of abuse will occur. The continued state of stress leaves the body in survival mode, making it difficult to feel safe even after leaving the situation. If trauma is not adequately addressed by a professional (which is often the case when a survivor is trapped in an abusive situation), it lingers in the subconscious and causes severe psychiatric problems such as PTSD. The repeated violation of a person’s safety and trust has a profound impact on their mental health.
Help Is Available
The effects of domestic violence may last long after the abuse ends, but they do not define a survivor’s future. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, reaching out for help is a courageous first step. Healing is possible with the right support. At Stepping Stone Shelter, we provide confidential support, safety planning, legal advocacy, and other resources designed to help survivors move toward safety and healing. We’re here for you.
You can call our 24-hour crisis line at 219-879-4615 or visit our website here.
