INTIMATE VIOLENCE- LEAVE OR DIE PART 2

Remember the part 1 of this article? It was based on a true life story. So I promised to tell you the link between prolonged domestic violence and chronic medical conditions, hope you find this very educating.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is another name for domestic violence .In this story,we see both cases of IPV and child abuse. The kinds of child abuse seen are sexual abuse, psychological and emotional abuse. Neglect is also a form of child abuse.
Let me throw this question at you, Do you think Bisi became hypertensive because She had a positive family history,or because She had some of the risk factors? What if I tell you tgat long term domestic violence can result in chronic health conditions like hypertension and heart diseases?
In a study carried out by the National Centre for Health Research, it was reported that women who were victims of any form of domestic violence were more likely to have chronic health conditions than those that are not. Unfortunately,most women don't realize that their health conditions are related to their abusive relationships. Surprisingly,most health practitioners fail to see the connection too. It is said that only 6% of women who experienced IPV and have a chronic health condition stated that their doctors or nurses made a connection.
You may ask,How can IPV lead to Chronic health conditions? Here is your answer; The chronic stress that results from an abusive relationship can affect both one's physical and mental health. When one is faced with either a physical or psychological threat,the body tends to react with a ' fight or flight' reaction to enable one fight back or run away from danger. This 'fight or flight' reaction is usually caused by the release of certain hormones in the body such as cortisol,which is regarded as the stress hormone, adrenaline etc. While these hormones help in the short term,they can hurt the body if produced for long periods of time. For example, cortisol functions in increasing blood sugar levels as well as heart rate and at very high levels,it unctions like aldosterone and increases blood pressure by causing sodium and water retention. As a result, chronic high levels of cortisol can result in hypertension,diabetes,stroke and heart diseases. With respect to this,it is very possible that Bisi's condition was as a result of the prolonged IPV She experienced.
For every story,there is always a lesson to be learnt,in this note there are some take home notes I will like to point out. The first is ,Don't stay in an abusive relationship,this is directed to both males and females.Women,if you say your man will change or you don't want your children to grow up without their fathers,Have you ever thought of how they will cope without growing up with their mothers? Bisi didn't think of that,and she ended up leaving her children all alone in the hands of their irresponsible father. Yemi didn't allow his children to be taken in by Bisi's relatives but still didn't take good care of them,He still came home drunk, and sometimes the children had to sleep on empty stomachs because he didn't provide money for upkeep.
Stand up! Don't keep silent about abuse, Bisi didn't tell others about her situation. You may say it is not good to involve a third party in a relationship,but when the situation is beyond your control,voice out. There are provisions for marriage counselling in churches and other legal policies that are against abuse. Ayo stood up to defend his mother, if something like this is going on in your home or neighbourhood,stand up and speak up.Never let a man put his hands on you without your permission.
Always remember,Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than to hurt yourself putting it back together.