Loss of appetite, eating disorders
Weight loss
Gastrointestinal disorders
Headaches
Nervous, Anxious
Bruises, broken bones
Self-blame
Confusion
Guilt
Shame
Mistrust of self & others
Feelings of worthlessness, low self-esteem
Central nervous system disorders
Sadness, Depression
Suicidal
Terror
Fear
Death
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Flashbacks
Nightmares
Anxiety
Emotional numbing
Insomnia
Hypervigilance
Avoidance of traumatic triggers and talking about the problem
Feeling detached and estranged
Explosive or inhibited anger
Helplessness
Sense of being different from others
Attribute total power to perpetrator or become preoccupied with relationship to them, including preoccupation with revenge
Isolation, distrust, or repeated search for a rescuer
Sense of hopelessness and despair
Substance abuse
Self-mutilation, self-harm
Battered Women’s Syndrome
- Believe violence is their fault.
- Inability to place responsibility for violence elsewhere.
- Fears for her life and/or children’s lives.
- Irrational belief that abuser is omnipresent and omniscient.
Adapted from: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, National Center for PTSD
The psychological effects on the victim are devastating. They are truly brainwashed through mind control and manipulation. They are made to believe that everything is their fault; they feel worthless; they believe they are not a good person; and they feel no one else will ever be interested in them. They have difficulty knowing who to trust due to the isolation created by the abuser. The abuser continually puts down the victim’s family and friends and tells the victim they are the only one who really cares about them. Gradually the victim becomes very angry, usually not recognizing the source of their anger and they displace that anger on their family and friends. They become extremely confused and do not know who to trust. Together with the fear instilled in them by the abuser (by breaking their possessions, battering them, threatening to kill them and/or their families, calling them the worst names) they become psychologically destroyed.