Mental Health Impacts of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) can experience a mental toll that is deep and lasting. Here are three key mental health challenges faced by intimate partner violence survivors:

1. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): a mental health disorder that can happen after exposure to a traumatic experience. It is a collection of feelings, behaviours and experiences that can be caused by a single specific, severe, potentially traumatic event, or from a series of these events. Studies indicate that PTSD is the most common mental health disorder among intimate partner violence survivors, with prevalence rates ranging from 31% to 84%.
2. Depression: a mental health disorder that affects a person’s emotional, physical and mental well-being. Approximately 47.6% of women who have experienced intimate partner violence meet the criteria for depression.
3. Anxiety Disorders: when symptoms of anxiety are ongoing and severe, causing distress in a person’s everyday life. This will lead to a person’s inability to work, socialize and manage daily tasks. There are different types of anxiety disorders. Intimate partner violence survivors are at an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. A study also reported women exposed to intimate partner violence had a higher incidence of anxiety disorders compared to those who have not experienced intimate partner violence.

Sources:

1. Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024, May 24). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
2. Dokkedahl, S. B., Kirubakaran, R., Bech-Hansen, D., Kristensen, T. R., & Elklit, A. (2022). The psychological subtype of intimate partner violence and its effect on mental health: a systematic review with meta-analyses. Systematic reviews, 11(1), 163.
3. Public Health Ontario. (n.d.). Depression.
4. Golding, J.M. (1999). Intimate Partner Violence as a Risk Factor for Mental Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Family Violence, 14, 99-132.
5. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (n.d.). Anxiety disorders.
6. Chandan, J. S., et al. (2020). Female survivors of intimate partner violence and risk of depression, anxiety and serious mental illness. The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 217(4), 562–567.