An article has been published about our new resource.  See below.

He Drove Me Mad
A teaching resource about the relationship between domestic violence and mental illness and/or substance abuse. For service providers.

December 2008      7
Most women who experience domestic violence will have some mental health problems as a result
– ranging from heightened anxiety or stress to disassociation and severe fear reactions. Research into the relationship between domestic violence and mental illness carried out in New Zealand (Hager, 2001) found that domestic violence drives women “crazy” and that there is very little understanding of, and a lack of appropriate responses to, this phenomenon.

One of the major themes to emerge from the research was that when a person is emotionally
abused by constantly having their perceptions of reality denied, they lose their sense of
groundedness and reality and find it increasingly difficult to trust their own perceptions of events.
People who are experiencing this, with or without the extra trauma of physical and sexual abuse,
may exhibit behaviours that can be read as symptoms of mental illness. These behaviours,
however, are usually reasonable responses to living in intolerable situations. Women involved in the study listed a number of long-term effects of being in an abusive adult relationship:
•high levels of fear
• lack of volition
• diminished ability to deal with stress
• hyper-vigilance
• being very suspicious
• depression
• exhaustion
• disassociation
• a tenuous grasp on reality.
All of these can also be perceived as symptoms of mental illness.

In a survey of 39 refuges affiliated to the National Collective of Independent Refuges (Hager, 2006),
questions were asked about the number of women with mental illness and drug and alcohol
problems that the refuges had had contact with over a six-month period in 2006. This was
anecdotal information, as few records are kept of mental health/drug and alcohol status, especially
for women who are screened out of refuge. During this time, 347 women were accepted into
refuges who were identified as having mental health or drug and alcohol problems. The women
brought 447 dependant children with them. Of these 347 women, 79 were moved out of refuge
because the refuge staff felt either that they were a threat to the other women and children in the
refuge or that they – the refuge staff – did not have the expertise and skills to work appropriately
with them. This affected 81 children. A further 178 women were known to have been
denied access to refuge because of mental health and/or substance abuse problems. This is an
underestimate as most refuges do their screening via phone and do not keep any records of how
many women are screened out.

Outcomes for women asked to leave or denied access to refuge include: going back to the
abuser; short-term solutions such as moving into caravan parks or with friends and family; living
on the streets; or going into psychiatric wards or substance abuse services, which means placing
children with the abuser or other people. In total, 257 women, many with children,  
were denied refuge over a six-month period. This indicates an acute need for constructive
responses to meet the complex needs of  these women.

Homeworks Trust, set up to advocate for specialised services and housing for women,
has been researching and lobbying to raise awareness of these issues since 1998. The Mental
Health Foundation/Like Minds, Like Mine New Zealand Mental Health Media Grant provided an
opportunity to raise awareness of this issue from another perspective: to allow women’s stories to
be told in a way that engaged not just people’s intellect but also their emotions.

Homeworks Trust used the Media Grant to make a teaching documentary aimed at anyone who
works with women in voluntary, faith-based, NGO, professional, or government services.
The documentary dramatises and explains domestic violence, the relationship between
domestic violence and mental illness, how women in this circumstance might present to
services, women’s usual experiences of help- seeking with services, and how organisations can
respond positively and constructively to these women. The documentary is combined with a
teaching manual, handouts, and a PowerPoint presentation.

The scenarios in the DVD are generalised situations that are true to women’s lived
experiences. A reference group of women who have experienced mental health problems
as a result of domestic violence oversaw the development of the script and filming process.
Using this format allowed women’s stories to  be told by experienced actors while protecting 
the vulnerability of the women whose stories  were used.

The documentary is supported by a website that provides an online support group for women who
feel that domestic violence has driven them mad: www.hedrovememad.com

References
Hager, D. (2001). He drove me mad: The relationship
between domestic violence and mental illness.
Unpublished master’s thesis, University of
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Hager, D. (2006). Domestic violence and mental
illness/substance abuse: A survey of 39 refuges.
Available from www.homeworkstrust.org.nz

For more information about domestic violence and
mental illness/substance abuse: 
www.homeworkstrust.org.nz

Copies of the teaching resource cost $85,
including postage and GST, and can be ordered
from:
Debbie Hager, Homeworks Trust
PO Box 20710 
Glen Eden 
Waitakere 0641
Email: debbie/neil@paradise.net.nz
Order forms can be downloaded from the website:
www.hedrovememad.com or 
www.homeworkstrust.org