Abuse of any sort affects people’s mental health. Domestic violence can make people: drink or abuse drugs, feel crazy, blank out periods of time, feel like they’re losing hold of reality, feel that they can’t carry on, try to kill themselves, feel totally exhausted, get very, very stressed, look for psychiatric help, feel frightened all the time, be very suspicious of people, suffer from a number of ongoing physical and mental health problems including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
These are normal responses to living in an intolerable situation.
Many women and some men find that they have ‘been driven mad’ by abusive partners. Abusive partners have forced others into mental health services or addiction, as part of the pattern of abuse.
Welcome to the online support group for people who have been traumatised by domestic violence - being abused by an intimate partner.
This is a safe place that we hope will make you feel that you are not alone, where we can share our experience of “madness” in the aftermath of domestic violence and can heal from our experiences. A portal through which we can support one other as we navigate through the effects of trauma with shared stories, personal experience and information.
This site offers you a way to
- affirm your experiences
- involve you in conversation with people who have similar experiences
- provide a forum where you can feel listened to
- enable you to share your experience in order to help and support others
- get information and have your questions answered
- help you find support, encouragement and ideas to help you heal
This website is for all of us - so that we no longer need to feel isolated and unheard. There is often no-where for us to go – refuge have difficulty providing a safe place for people with perceived mental health and substance abuse problems, mental health and drug and alcohol services often ignore the abuse we experience. Although there is nowhere safe to go, this site creates a place to speak freely and share experiences.
Before you can enter the site you have to register with us. Please use a pseudonym – the name you want to be known by on the site. This is to make sure that people who participate are kept safe and anonymous. No information about you – including your email address - will be shared with anyone.
This site is moderated. This means that any article, comment etc that you contribute can be edited. This will only be done if it is abusive. This will help keep the site safe and supportive. You will notice when you read our safety information that any language or comments that are defamatory to women may result in the whole posting being erased.
Please read our Safety, Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions information before registering with us. We have included information about how to keep yourself safe if you are accessing this site from home – please read this bit first to ensure that our site doesn’t get you into trouble with an abuser.