People with mental disorders were more often subjected to domestic violence
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Men and women with mental disorders are more likely than ordinary people to become victims of domestic violence. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the Institute of Psychiatry of the Royal College of London, who in the course of the research collaborated with the University of Bristol.
Previous studies, aimed at finding the relationship between domestic violence and psychological problems, focused mainly on depression, while the new research kept in view a wider range of psychological disorders in both men and women.
The authors of the study, funded by the British National Institute for Health Research and published in Plos One, analyzed the results of 41 previous studies conducted around the world.
Compared with mentally healthy women, women with depressive disorders were more than two and a half times more likely to become victims of domestic violence in adulthood. Among women with anxious neurosis, in relative figures, there were three and a half times as many victims of domestic violence as among the mentally healthy representatives of the weaker sex. Among women suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, this indicator is higher than that of mentally healthy women, and at all seven times.
More at risk of domestic violence and women with other mental disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, general mental disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Men with all types of mental problems are also more prone to the risk of domestic violence, although they do not have such a strong indicator. This is due to the fact that men as a whole are less likely to become victims of domestic violence.
Professor Louise Howard, lead author of the study from the Royal Institute of Psychiatry, explains: "In this study, we found that both women and men with mental disorders have an increased risk of becoming victims of domestic violence. On the basis of this, two conclusions can be drawn: first, domestic violence often leads to mental problems among victims , and secondly, people with mental problems are more often victims of domestic violence. "
This study is part of the PROVIDE program. This five-year program aims to maximize the detailed study of the problem of domestic violence.
Professor Gene Feder, co-author of the study at the School of Social and Community Medicine at Bristol University, says: "We hope that our program will draw attention to the problem of physical abuse in families over people with mental disorders."
In the future, scientists in the PROVIDE program are going to make the object of research 16-17-year-olds, whereas up to now the problem of domestic violence was considered by them only among adults.
"Psychiatrists should be aware of the connection between domestic violence and mental disorders. They need to make sure that their patients are not victims of domestic violence. In addition, specialists must effectively treat the consequences of rough treatment of people in families, "- summed up Professor Louise Howard.
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