Abuse can take many forms, ranging from physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, verbal abuse, financial/economic abuse, coercive control, and psychological actions or threats meant to harm or influence an intimate partner. It can happen at any age and affects people of all sexual orientations, ethnicities, religions, sexes and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Sadly, abuse victims may experience a wide range of physical and mental health symptoms resulting from domestic abuse trauma, including depression, anxiety, high stress levels, suicidal tendencies, panic attacks, substance abuse disorders, and sexual and reproductive health issues.

When we experience trauma, our brains become micro-focused on what needs to be done next in order to survive - to escape (flight), defend (fight) or immobilise (Freeze). Every other sensory input is essentially put on the back burner while our body and mind dedicates itself to surviving the threat.

Because domestic and family violence is often repetitive and consists of layers of emotional, verbal, psychosocial and/or physical abuse, the compounding affect never enables the mind to have the necessary break to properly process and heal the trauma from one traumatic event to the next, which in turn can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event or due to the compound effect of ongoing trauma.

Symptoms of PTSD are sometimes difficult to establish, as there is often a considerable overlap between PTSD and other mental health conditions but symptoms are normally defined by three overarching categories:

• Avoidance: Avoiding reminders or “triggers” of the traumatic event, such as people, places, smells, sounds, thoughts or events.

• Arousal and reactivity: Sudden inexplicable anger, outbursts, trouble sleeping, always on high alert, hypervigilant, compulsive risk assessment of situaitons, startling easily, paralysing nightmares, or may actually dissociate (check out) shutting down, feeling numb or regularly daydreaming/distant.

• Reliving the event: Being confronted by the emotional trauma of the event suddenly and without an obvious reason, resulting in emotional outbursts, chills, heart palpitations, aggression, extreme anxiety and other symptoms.

Left untreated, PTSD can cause long-term mental health effects, including anger management issues and severe depression and suicidal tendencies, and is believed to increase the likelihood of developing several life-threatening conditions including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and substance abuse disorders.

“The likelihood of PTSD increases after a domestic abuse event, and can worsen with recurring exposure to abuse but our patients need to be reassured that the effects can be mitigated through seeking the right support,” says psychologist Sherrin Bell.

Symptoms vary a lot between patients and treating PTSD in domestic abuse victims can be complicated, with no one-size-fits-all treatment. A mental health professional can devise a treatment plan to address specific symptoms but treatment can often be difficult if the patient remains in regular contact with the abuser.

Treatment often involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which can help victims manage the trauma of their experience. Most CBT based therapies aim to help patients feel safe, regulate their emotions, become more assertive, manage grief and the life transitions that may come with leaving an abuser, and to deal with depression and anxiety. Specialised treatments such as eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) are also reported to be having very successful outcomes for high trauma and PTSD.

Self-care is also really important to the recovery of any level of trauma. In addition to any prescribed medication and receipt of treatment, there are simple lifestyle changes you can make to improve your chance of recovery including:

• Regular exercise to help reduce stress levels.

• Leaning in on a trusted friend or relative for support and resisting the temptation to socially withdraw and isolate yourself.

• Considering what triggers your symptoms and work to better manage or eliminate the triggers and set clear boundaries.

• Get out in the fresh air, listen to great music, work on your sleep patterns, find your passions again avoid alcohol and non-prescribed drugs, eat well and stop the negative self-talk (remember abuse is never the victims fault- ever),

PTSD and high trauma may leave you feeling like you will never recover and return to your former self. But believe us when we tell you that you can move through it and will come out the other side. You need to be kind to you in the process and get the support and therapy you absolutely need. You've got this and it is worth investing in you. x