TITLE:
Vulnerable and without protection: Lifetime experiences of abuse and its influence on mental ill health
AUTHORS:
Karin Örmon, Marie Torstensson-Levander, Charlotta Sunnqvist, Christel Bahtsevani
KEYWORDS:
Content Analysis; General Psychiatric Care; Mental Ill Health; Violence against Women
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
22,
2014
ABSTRACT: Violence against women is a
major global public health issue, and experiencing
violence has substantial consequences for the lives of abused women. This study
aims to illustrate experiences of abuse and its influence on mental ill health
among women seeking general psychiatric
care. Ten women seeking general psychiatric care in southern Sweden
participated in a qualitative interview study. Content analysis resulted in four categories: Living in fear that persistently influences the substance of life, living with the sense of being worthless, living with a constant question about who you are and living between hope and despair. The theme evolving from the analysis was: Being vulnerable and
without protection in a frightful reality that limits one’s possibilities of
living and being the person one wishes to be. The results showed that the women
described their mental ill health not only in terms of depression, anxiety and
suicidal ideation and self-harm, but also in relation to feelings of hope and
despair, fear, worthlessness and living with a constant question about who they are. The abuse reduces freedom of action,
and leads to feelings of insecurity, of not having any boundaries, isolation,
and self-contempt and a need to escape. This study provides knowledge of
abused women self-reported mental ill health in relation to abuse.