New study sheds light on link between domestic abuse and mental illness

Research conducted at Birmingham University has revealed that women who have experienced domestic violence are three times more likely to suffer from a serious mental health problem than those who have not. The study, which was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that survivors of domestic violence were twice as likely to need prescription medication, and were twice as likely to develop anxiety and three times as likely to develop depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The study — which involved 18,547 women who had been exposed to domestic abuse, compared to 74,188 women who had not — found that while some of the women had experienced mental health issues prior to the incident(s) of violence, following domestic violence...