Domestic Abuse and Mental Health training available
May 14, 2024
The Safeguarding Team are supporting this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week by raising awareness of the profound effects on the mental health of individuals experiencing domestic abuse and the vital role of health professionals in supporting victims/survivors.
Evidence suggests women who experience domestic abuse are three times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health problem and women who are experiencing domestic abuse are also nearly three times more likely to have a history of diagnosed mental health problems. Equally, exposure to domestic violence has a significant impact on children’s mental health.
What is Domestic Abuse (DA): DA is “any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following—physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, psychological, emotional, or other abuse; and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
DA also incorporates forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, honour-based violence, and elder abuse.
The impact of experiencing DA: Victims/survivors may experience but not limited to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts. Equally, exposure to domestic violence has a significant impact on children’s mental health.
Barriers to seeking help: Victims/survivors may experience feelings of shame, guilt, fear of being judged, self-blame, fear of not being believed and worthlessness all of these can prevent seeking help for both their mental health and the abuse being experienced.
Even after a victim/ survivor is safe and free from the abuse, experiencing abuse can lead to trauma responses such as hypervigilance, flashbacks, difficulty trusting others, fear that the perpetrator will find out their new location.
For safeguarding/domestic abuse advice and support within Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and links to services offering specialist advice, see Safeguarding Children on Connect.
Colleagues who wish to further understand and educate yourselves on how to support and understand how Domestic Abuse can affect both the victim and survivors. You can visit the training on ESR by searching for 000Domestic Violence and Abuse.
https://vimeo.com/748710009/a7f2503ae9
Safeguarding numbers: Children:0121 507 2844, Adults: 0121 507 5174
MASH health: 0121 569 7223
Independent Domestic Violence Advisors: City hospital site 0121 507 4829, Sandwell hospital site 0121 507 3787.
Further information can be found: