DEPRESSION IN BATTERED WOMEN OF ODISHA

Abstract

The American Psychological Association has defined Battered Woman’s Syndrome or battered wife syndrome, as a sub category of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The syndrome includes learned helplessness (causes her to firmly believe that she deserves the abuse and that she cannot get away from it) in relation to the abusive spouse as well as symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Walker highlighted that battered woman’s syndrome is the psychological effects of living with intimate partner violence and that is not a mental illness, but the result of what happens when you live day in and day out with trauma.  This paper critically focuses on Depression among Battered women of Odisha. The main aim of this research was to identify the battered women using Women’s Abuse Screening Tool (WAST). After identifying the battered women, the Beck’s Depression Inventory was administered to assess the level of depression, and those who scored high level of depression were selected and interviewed using purposive sampling technique from Vasundhara, Cuttack. Out of 120 number of women, every sixth participant was selected for the said purpose. The relationship between battering and depression has been documented for more than three decades, but has rarely been noted in the depression literature of Indian studies. This discussion has implications for policy making and the primary health care system.

KEYWORDS: Domestic Violence, Battered Women Syndrome, Depression