http://www.connectnyc.org/en/news_and_events/psychological_battering.html
Ten Healthcare Consequences Resulting from
“Psychological Battering”
by Ellen Taliaferro, MD, FACEP


Until the last few years, little research focused on the health
consequences of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)—especially those stemming from
non-injury abuse. What research did exist, for the most part, focused on the
consequences of injuries of past physical abuse. Health consequences of
long-term psychological abuse were ignored.

In 2000, Dr. Ann Coker and colleagues published the results of their
survey of 1152 women seeking medical care from family medicine clinics. These
researchers discovered that 53.6% of these women had experienced some type of
IPV in their lifetime. For most, the abuse was experienced around the age of 22.
What distinguished the findings from previous research is that they examined
psychological abuse as well as physical abuse. They found that 13.6% of the
women surveyed experienced psychological IPV without any form of physical IPV.

Psychological violence is defined as psychological battering or emotional
abuse. It is characterized by the victims’ continuous feelings of susceptibility
to danger, loss of power and control, and entrapment.



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