Unraveling the Knot: Exploring the Intersection of Domestic Violence and Mental Health

Content Warning: This post contains discussions of domestic violence.

The correlation between mental health and domestic violence is multifaceted and often cyclical. Individuals who experience domestic violence, whether physical, emotional, or psychological, often suffer from significant mental health issues due to the trauma they endure. It’s crucial to recognize that addressing both mental health and domestic violence is essential for breaking the cycle of abuse and promoting healing and recovery for survivors.

Domestic violence is associated with a range of physical and mental health effects. Being a victim of domestic violence is linked to an increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicide. Exposure to traumatic events can lead to stress, fear, and isolation, which may lead to depression and suicidal thoughts or behavior.

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), 20% of survivors develop mental health conditions. These include:

  • Major depressive disorder
  • Generalized anxiety disorder
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Substance use disorders

The APA also states that survivors of domestic violence may blame themselves for the abuse they received. They can become self-critical, self-destructive, and suicidal. Chronic abuse can create trauma responses that interfere with future relationships. Survivors may struggle with emotional regulation, dissociation, and numbing, and have trouble reading social cues.

Researchers have found that mental health outcomes of domestic violence can become a vicious cycle. Survivors can believe they are powerless to control violent behavior or to develop resources to change their situation. This can potentially set up a long-term pattern of violent partnerships.

Violence also affects the children of those involved. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children of people experiencing abuse are more likely to be abused. They also tend to have poorer school performance than their peers and higher rates of illness, including depression and anxiety. Witnessing domestic abuse is considered an adverse childhood experience (ACE). Such toxic stress in early life is linked to several negative health outcomes in adulthood, ranging from depression and substance use disorder to diabetes and heart disease.

Treating the Mental Health Effects of Domestic Violence

Mental health professionals who treat survivors of violence often use a trauma-informed approach. When counseling patients, they consider the distress the patient experienced and how it shapes the person’s beliefs and behavior. This approach focuses on creating a sense of safety and empowerment for patients. In treatment, patients can strengthen communication, learn stress management, and reduce feelings of isolation. Such skills may protect against future incidences of domestic violence.

In addition to individual counseling, group therapy can be helpful for survivors. In the context of a group, they can learn from others’ experiences and can shed feelings of isolation and secrecy.

At Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, we are committed to providing support to survivors, including mental health services. Every client can receive free individual therapeutic services so that they can begin to understand, resolve, and heal from the trauma they have experienced specifically domestic violence-related trauma. We also offer a weekly support group where clients learn skills to help them cope with past experiences while building healthy relationships and a community with other clients. Support group also allows survivors to have a confidential setting to connect with other survivors who have experienced domestic violence.

For more information about these programs, please email us at info@nwaws.org.

Content Warning: This post and the articles discussed/linked contain discussions of domestic violence.

One in four American women will experience violence from a domestic partner in their lifetime, often resulting in significant trauma to the head and neck known as a traumatic brain injury. It is estimated that millions of women experience traumatic brain injuries (TBI) due to domestic violence (DV) every year and over 75% of domestic violence survivors suffer single or repeated traumatic brain injuries, most of which go unreported.

For many survivors of domestic violence, the impact of TBI on thinking and memory lasts long after the abuse ends. Even mild cases of traumatic brain injury, like concussion, can impart significant and long-lasting issues, and a single incident in which TBI occurs can result in long-term cognitive damage. Repeated physical abuse can accelerate the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s and may even result in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a fatal form of progressive brain degeneration that can only be diagnosed after death.

Despite these alarming statistics, the relationship between TBI and domestic violence remains largely unknown and critically under-researched. The connection between the two may be obvious in retrospect, but until these injuries are consistently screened for in domestic violence cases and also more regularly discussed, they cannot be addressed as they need to be. Talking about domestic violence is difficult, and many women may struggle to share their stories due to stigma, the threat of partner retaliation, and/or the lack of accessible medical care.

Raising awareness of the signs of domestic abuse can help more women come forward and receive the care and support they need – but the right systems must be in place for that to happen. Here at Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, we are committed to providing that care and support and ensuring those systems are readily available for those who need them. In addition to funding research to better understand the connections between DV-TBI and CTE, people can support survivors by educating themselves about the signs of domestic violence and traumatic brain injury, how the two are connected, and championing domestic violence prevention organizations like ours.

For more information and resources about this subject please visit these web pages:

Written by Triniti Horner

Every college student knows the feeling of the spring semester. As it begins, students are fueled by the disdain for having to do anything after a three-week break. Spending the holidays with our families, eating too much food, and napping as much as possible and now professors want me to THINK for a living? No way. Alas, we must move on and look forward to warmer weather, and, if we’re lucky, a summer internship. As a Family and Human Services major, summer internships for my field in Northwest Arkansas are few and far between. Looking for internships is no easy feat. To decide whether or not you want to work for the state, a non-profit or a church, for money or for experience, inside or outside, administratively or hands-on – you get the idea. Amidst loads of coursework, we cast a wide net, hoping to catch one or two fish. 

Thankfully, I landed the job here at NWA Women’s Shelter (NWAWS). The work this organization does is crazy important, and I’m not just saying that because I have to. Our goal is to fight back against domestic violence. This can include but is not limited to, physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual, cultural, or digital abuse. Domestic abuse comes in many shapes and sizes; our shelter seeks to recognize the nuances of abuse and provide the services that are necessary for our survivors. Our shelter is one of two in Northwest Arkansas. To explain why this is important, I will now throw some numbers at you, so be prepared for that. More than half a million people live in Northwest Arkansas, and about 40,000 people have or will experience domestic abuse whether that be from an intimate partner or someone else in their family. In Arkansas, 41% of females and 35% of males will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives. (NCADV, 2020) With NWA being one of the most popular places to be in Arkansas, the number of people our shelter will serve is continually increasing. We are the only shelter in our area that serves clients who are escaping anything other than intimate partner violence. We love to help anyone who doesn’t feel safe in their homes and creates a place of safety for themselves and for their families.  

Now that we have the numbers out of the way, what I would like to share with you readers are some of the questions that have come up for me over my past month working here. Why are you doing what you do? How are you showing up for the people around you and for yourself? How can I make a difference? I know these are simple questions, but for me, they have complex answers. Life can become monotonous. Waking up, going to work, eating the same lunch every day (shoutout to Walmart’s chicken salad), driving home, making dinner, watching TV, going to bed, and then repeating. The lifestyle many of us live and find boring at times, is one of privilege. Over the past couple of years, I have been learning to see where privilege shows up. Our nation has seen a lot of this in political, macro-sized conversations, but I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about micro-sized privilege in our day-to-day lives.  

Why Are You Doing What You Do? 

The people we serve in our shelters are fleeing for their lives. Each day is a fight to regain their life and freedom to be in charge of all areas of their personhood. This has pushed me to consider why I want to work for NWAWS. I am the Development and Thrift Store intern this summer. Thrift store? You may be asking, “Why do you work at a thrift store?” and honestly, I asked myself that, too. The NWAWS Thrift Store provides one of the most consistent and vital sources of revenue that helps the shelter to serve their clients. While at first glance, it may look like working retail (and I do get some experience with that), it is about the “why” we sift through bins of clothing, price them fairly, organize, hang them up, stand on our feet all day, smile when customers give us a hard time, and lift heavy boxes filled with donations. It will help us to better serve the men, women, and children who aren’t safe. Being involved, no matter how small it may seem, serves a larger purpose whenever we are fully committed to the mission. I’ve decided to work for NWAWS because I am fully committed to the mission of the shelter and will do whatever it takes to make sure people are cared for.  

 “How am I Showing up for the People Around Me and Myself?” 

Oftentimes, I gauge how well I am showing up for others based on their responses to me. How others are around me, how they speak to me, and how we interact are all parts of this question. While working at the thrift store, I have the opportunity to get to know the women (and men!) that are part of making all that the shelter does possible. All of their personalities are beautiful and have something unique to bring to our work at NWAWS. They are all passionate, driven, hard-working, chatty, and fully themselves. But, as we all know, working with other people is hard. It’s hard to put up with their feelings as well as our own. It’s hard to know how our tone comes across when we speak to one another. It’s hard to communicate clearly and effectively, especially with new co-workers. It’s hard to show up personally and professionally. We’ve all had our moments at work where we were done and wanted to do nothing but lie on the couch and watch our favorite comfort show. However, working with other people is also beautiful. We learn, laugh, grow, and live life alongside each other. We get united under a specific and important goal. We get to see others thrive and do their work well. To me, that is what motivates me to go to work every day. I get to show up for others and in the process learn something deeper about myself. Whether I learn that I’m not awful at designing a graphic on Canva or that I am clumsy when people are watching me do a simple task, I am growing. Constantly blossoming into a better version of myself causes me to pour that goodness into my work. That’s how I want to show up for myself and others, in a way that fosters a further understanding of my coworkers as well as myself.  

How do I Make a Difference? 

The simple, yet complex answer I have come up with is: just be you. We live in a time when it feels hard to be unique. Social media has shown us what is popular, gets the most likes, and is most common. To stand out would be a risk. To be different is simultaneously praised and demeaned. What I would like to see in myself is the ability to take risks for causes that I am passionate about. Risks can be a plethora of different things. It can be the risk of volunteering—what some would consider “wasting” my own time. Or it could be the risk of using my knowledge of Spanish to speak to people in my second language, running the risk of messing up and offending someone. Whatever a risk looks like to you, I would encourage you to take it. Life is too short to be worried about what everyone else is doing. We are only in control of ourselves and how we are utilizing our time, privilege, and energy to make a difference in the lives of others.  

So yeah, that’s what I’ve learned working here at the NWAWS. If anything I said resonates with you, please feel free to reach out to us and get more involved in what we do here. We love volunteers at our Thrift Store and are always willing to help when we are able to do so.  

Click here for more information on volunteering or email Amber to get connected.  

Pictured from left: Shelli Cathcart, Gladys Aguiar, Lorna Miller (Living Word), Burke Gower, Regina Gower, Keisha Wyckoff, Dianna Zerr

Congratulations to our 2016 Outstanding Volunteers!

Mother Teresa is attributed as saying, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

In the same way, our volunteers create many ripples of change by supporting our staff and our clients in the overall effort to change the effects of violence on the lives of children, women, and men in our area. While we wish we could give an award to all of our volunteers (can we just say that you are each outstanding!), each year staff nominates certain volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service for the last 12 months. The competition was tough, but the recipients of the 2016 Outstanding Volunteer Awards go to:

Outstanding Shelter Volunteer – Keisha Wyckoff

Outstanding Thrift Store Volunteer – Dianna Zerr

Outstanding Committee Member – Regina Gower

Outstanding Board Member – Shelli Cathcart

Outstanding Community Supporter – Living Word Lutheran Church

Most Versatile Volunteer – Gladys Aguiar

Most Faithful Volunteer – Jennifer Stoner

 

Thank you all for your contributions. We truly could not do it without you!

 

Interested in joining this amazing volunteer team? Tell us you are interested in getting involved by clicking here.

Pictures of the event can be viewed on Flickr.

Written by John McGee volunteer-appreciation-month April is National Volunteer Awareness Month. bns gold Frequently we forget to recognize our volunteers, and all too frequently we forget to recognize those volunteers who helped build an organization. Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, originally incorporated as the Benton County Women’s Shelter in August 1986, would not still be in existence without the help of volunteers. ASICS PAS CHER FR Very early in our history, a group of individuals created the Benton County Women’s Shelter Auxiliary. The purpose of the Auxiliary was “to provide an opportunity for caring persons to assist the Benton County Women’s Shelter Project in their very important work with battered women and their children.” As reflected in a brochure produced by the Soroptimist International of Northwest Arkansas dated September 28, 1988, the purpose of the project was “to actually establish a shelter…” That brochure contains a sample of a card advising individuals on a number to call, what to take if leaving an abusive relationship, and advice on why one might call a domestic violence hotline. goedkoop nike air max 2017 By November of 1988, the auxiliary was organized with elected leaders, a dues structure, a purpose of raising resources for a shelter, and a campaign to educate the community on the issues of domestic violence. These volunteers organized seminars, brought in speakers, produced informational press releases, and started raising funds to fulfill their purpose. In a January 1989 appeal for members, the auxiliary recorded its purpose as “formed to assist the Project in fund raising and volunteer services.”

rogers-auxiliary-bcws-nwaws-womens-shelter-ladies-tea

Invitation to the First Membership Tea of the Rogers Unit of the Benton County Women’s Shelter Auxiliary

For the next eight years the auxiliary grew, developed multiple units, created a thrift store, and became a power within the organization because of its ability generate revenue. At one point the funds generated by the auxiliary represented close to 40% of all the operating funds accessible by the organization. nike air max pas cher Many of the contributions these founding volunteers provided still shape how we operate. While the thrift store generates only about 20% of our current overall operating revenue, the shelter would not be in existence today without the income-generating power of the thrift store. Many individuals, particularly Jamie Percell, were crucial in creating and establishing the foundation of the thrift store. Originally known as the Friendship House Thrift Store, the NWA Women’s Shelter Thrift Store (now located at 1622 W. 8th Street in Rogers) is still dependent upon the help and assistance of dedicated volunteers. To each and every individual who has ever volunteered at the shelter, in the thrift store (regardless of the name it carried), with a fundraising activity that benefited the Benton County Women’s Shelter/Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter, or who served on our volunteer Board of Directors, thank you. Our professional staff know we accomplish what we do because you make it possible. Early on, nearly everything we did was reliant on the kindness, talent, and time of volunteers. As we grew, more and more work shifted to the staff. Today, as a relatively new individual in the history of this shelter, I recognize that everything I do or that my wonderful and talented staff does is an effort to build on the contributions of volunteers—volunteers who decided the region needed a shelter, the community needed to be educated on the issues, and the resources needed to be identified to make it happen have been, and continue to be, essential to our work. I know this might be too late for some, but on behalf of everyone connected with the NWA Women’s Shelter today, thank you, thank you, thank you for your labor of love, for your dedication, and for your support. For those who are still able, you are more than welcome to join us again however you might be able to participate. Chaussures ASICS Gel Glorify pour Femme The mission of the auxiliary is still as relevant and important to us today in our work to empower families to live free of violence as it was in 1988.

(Above: photos from the shelter, Thrift Store, and special events featuring 2015 volunteers)

We say it often: we cannot survive without our community partners and donors.

And while donors keep the bills paid and community partners keep our pantries full, we absolutely could not exist without our volunteers. From groups who remodel or plan events, to individuals who tirelessly work the cash register at the Thrift Store or answer the phones, we need you and love you!

2015 saw huge numbers in volunteering—we had 480 volunteers contribute 9090 hours. Wow! To break that down even farther, we saved $194,162 by having volunteers perform specific tasks so our staff could focus on other efforts![1]

Each of our volunteers means the world to us. Their commitment to show up and diligence in their work allow NWAWS to achieve more than we ever could by relying solely on staff. A diverse volunteer base also brings in new ideas. We can credit many solutions to the creative minds of our volunteers.

Need semi-regular pick-ups of large loads of donated goods? We have a volunteer for that. Need a skilled person to cover the hotline and shelter while our advocates are in a meeting? We have a volunteer for that, too.

It seems like anytime a need arises, we have someone who is willing to step in and help share the burden. So volunteers and interns, we say more than thank you for your efforts this past year.

Thank you for your on-going assistance and the help that you will offer in the future.

No matter how far you may be removed from the clients we serve, your assistance means we can continue our work to ending the cycle of violence for families in our community. For that, we all owe you our eternal gratitude.

team-together-partnership-volunteer

Check out our post after our Volunteer Banquet to learn more about a few of the outstanding people who work with us.

It truly takes an entire village to raise families out of distress and into violence-free lives. Will you consider joining us today? The ways to get involved are endless. Please check out our volunteer opportunities here or email Sheri for more information: shammond@nwaws.org.

 

[1]Value of volunteer hours is calculated at $21.36/hour based on numbers approved by the Arkansas Department of Human Services

 

 

 NWAWS received a lot of support from the NWA faith community in 2015.

In fact, we received over $22,000 in financial support and in-kind contributions from 36 different faith groups last year!

Faith-based organizations supported NWAWS in a variety of ways, including:

cash contributions promoting donation drives regular item giving (e.g. weekly purchases of cleaning supplies) special offerings bingo nights alternative gift markets shelter room renovations

The opportunities really are endless for our faith community to get involved with us. We are so grateful for all of the support that we received in 2015 and are looking forward to a new year and forming new partnerships in 2016.

Thank you to the faith-based organizations who generously supported us last year:  

Bella Vista Assembly of God

 

Bella Vista Community Church 

 

Bella Vista Lutheran Church 

 

Brightwater Memorial United Methodist Church

Catalyst Church NWA

Christian Women’s Job Corps

Decatur United Methodist Church

First Assembly of God

 

 

 First United Methodist Church, Bella Vista

 

First United Methodist Church-Good Shepherds

First United Methodist Church Mission Team

 

Highland Christian Church Disciples Women

Highland Christian Church Renaissance Class

 Highlands United Methodist Men – “Hummers”

 

 Highlands United Methodist Women

 

Keypointe Church 

 

 

Landmark Baptist Church

 

 

Living Word Lutheran Church

 

Mosaic at Fellowship Bible Church

 

New Hope Assembly Church

 

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Ladies Sunday School Class & Youth

Presbyterian Women of Bella Vista

 

Southside Church of Christ

 

St. Bernard Men’s Club & Knights of Columbus

St. Bernard Women’s Club 

 

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church

 

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

 

St. Theodore’s Episcopal Church

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School

The Ridge Community Church

 

United Lutheran Church of Bella Vista

 

United Lutheran Church Men’s Club

 

United Lutheran Church Women

 

United Methodist Church Men

 

United Methodist Church Women

 

Women at Peace – Peace Lutheran Church

 

Are you interested in getting your faith community involved in serving NWAWS? Please send us an email: info@nwaws.org. We look forward to connecting with you!

 

Champions in Heels 2015

Top 15 of 2015

Highlight #12-Awareness & Outreach

Awareness events and activities are some of the most important things we do at NWAWS. We want to make sure that the community knows that we exist and also how to seek services or get involved with our programs if they are interested.

In 2015, we participated in more than 130 different community presentations, booths, and trainings reaching over 7,500 people in Northwest Arkansas. In addition, we were also featured in the media at least 122 times last year for an estimated reach of 195,000!

Perhaps one of the most fun things we did last yeChampions in Heels 2015ar was Champions in Heels—a men’s relay race (in high heels) to raise awareness about domestic violence in our community. This was our second year doing the Champions event and our runners and attendees had a blast. Sara Lilygren, Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Tyson Foods was our honorary chair. She helped judge our walk-off competition and cheered on the teams as they raced. We are thankful for the commitment of everyone who helped plan the event and all of those who attended and raced.

Mark your calendar for 2016-Champions In Heels is scheduled for April 23.

Awareness about domestic violence does not happen on its own. If you are interested in volunteering to help with outreach events or would like for us to come talk with your team about domestic abuse and our services, please contact Amber at alacewell@nwaws.org.

Check out more pictures from the Champions In Heels event by clicking here.

Thank you, Bella Vista Assembly of God!

Another Shelter room completed! The group from Bella Vista Assembly of God returned to redecorate “their” room. They painted, bought new furniture, spruced up some older pieces, and generally made it so welcoming. Their room can accommodate sleeping arrangements for a family of five.

We cannot say enough nice things about our community partners! Volunteers are critical to meeting the needs of our clients.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, contact Sheri Hammond, shammond@nwaws.org, 479-246-0353, ext. 250.

Pictured (left to right): Sheri Hammond (Volunteer Coordinator), Darrell Darner, Mikayla Irvin, Laura Rogers, Christine Sheldon, Gladis Sandoval-Guzman; Not pictured: Harvey Millar, Judy Schaible, Matt TiceCongratulations to our Outstanding Volunteers!

We are grateful to have so many volunteers supporting our causes and every year we like to take the opportunity to recognize them for all of the “free” work that they do. air max pas cher pour homme From assisting clients in shelter, pricing donations at our Thrift Store, and helping to organize our events, volunteers are the people who keep us running. This November, we want to thank every person for their contribution—whether large or small. nike air max 1 goedkoop We are forever grateful for your help, smiling faces, and commitment to the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter and the clients we serve.

Winners of this year’s Outstanding Volunteer awards were:

Outstanding Board Member: Harvey Millar

Outstanding Teen Volunteer: Mikayala Irvin

Outstanding Thrift Store Volunteer: Christine Sheldon

Outstanding Committee Volunteer: Matt Tice

Outstanding Weekend Volunteer: Laura Rogers

Most Faithful Shelter Volunteer: Judy Schaible

Most Versatile Volunteer: Darrell Darner

Outstanding Intern: Gladis Sandoval-Guzman

 

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, contact Sheri Hammond, shammond@nwaws.org, 479-246-0353, ext. 250.

Harvey Millar was awarded Outstanding Board Member for his commitment to the organization along with his leadership during our Fresh StART event. Harvey joined the board in January 2015 and we are looking forward to his continued involvement in 2016.

“Miss Judy” as we affectionately refer to her, received the award for Most Faithful Shelter Volunteer. nike tn requin 2017 pas cher Judy has been volunteering with our organization for more than 8 years as a shelter volunteer. As a retiree, Judy brings her energy, care, and love to both the clients and staff of NWAWS and we are grateful for her weekly commitment to us.

Matt Tice is a crucial member of our volunteer team. air max He is a leader on two event committees (Champions In Heels & Fresh StART) and contributed well over 120 hours to our organization in 2015.

About
Get Help
Get Involved