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| Emotional Reactions to Domestic Violence | ||
| Symptom | Example of Reaction | |
| Fear/terror |
Clients may fear that their partner may escalate the violence, that it may result in their death or that of children. |
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| Fear may be present even if she has separated, sought legal intervention. | ||
| Autonomic arousal may occur, hypervigilence | ||
| Intrusive Symptoms | Nightmares, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, intrusive thoughts | |
| Avoidance Responses | Minimization/denial, psychic numbing, failure to acknowledge abuse | |
| Anxiety | Panic disorders, nervousness | |
| Sleep disturbances | Unable to get to sleep, remain asleep | |
| Anger | Anger at self, at abuser, at system, at family members | |
| Grief/ depression/ suicide attempts | Grief over loss of relationship, home | |
| Shame | Embarrassment | |
| Low Self-Esteem | Feelings of worthlessness, being unattractive, not desirable, unable to do anything well | |
| Somatic Complaints | Headaches, stomach aches, loss of appetite | |
| Addictive behavior | Increased use of alcohol or other substances to deal with symptoms described above | |
| Cognitive dysfunctions | Learned helplessness, attribution of self-blame tolerance/acceptance/justification of abuse | |
| Relational disturbances | Problems related to abuse, sexual dysfunction, difficulty with intimacy, pathological dependency upon abuser | |