Domestic Violence results when one of the individuals in a domestic relationship physically, verbally or emotionally assaults or threatens to assault the other person in the relationship. There are significant legal consequences for the offender, usually resulting in a period of incarceration, fines and restraining orders. Typically, a Batterers’ Intervention and/or Anger Management is court ordered for the offender. For the victim of domestic violence, he or she typically suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a normal human response which is the result of a distressing experience a person had which involved the potential threat of death or to the physical or emotional integrity of that person or other people. Symptoms of fearfulness, helplessness, flashbacks (re-experiencing the trauma over and over), emotional numbness or detachment, sleep disorders, depression, hypervigilance, startle response, environmental stimuli which trigger feelings of fearfulness or panic, and irritability are some of the symptoms of PTSD which is treatable. It is a delayed stress reaction in which a person has difficulty keeping the feelings associated with the traumatic event from the past out of his or her present feelings.

| Anxiety | Stress | PTSD |