The influence of domestic violence on teenagers

The influence of domestic violence on teenagers

Domestic violence can be termed as the intimate partner violence that is committed by a spouse or a partner in a close relationship against the other partner and is a presence both in heterosexual and same-sex relationships. Broadly domestic violence can involve violence against children the elderly and also parents. It takes various forms inclusive of physical verbal economic religious reproductive emotional and even sexual abuse. Domestic violence happens where the abusers have the belief that damage is an entitlement justified or unlikely to be reported. Thus the likelihood to produce an intergenerational abuse cycle to children and other family members, who have the feeling that such violence is acceptable or either condoned. With many people not recognizing themselves as abusers or victims,sincethey consider the incidences as family conflicts that have gone out of control. The awareness, definition and the perception of domestic violence happen to vary from nation to nation.

Teenagers are mostly affected and disadvantaged by the domestic violence existence as their foundations are disrupted and the room to develop certain skills at the family level is outdone due to the effects of the violence. The impacts outlined below shows the effects that teenagers are exposed to in cases of domestic violence occurrence

Sleep problems(nightmares)

Teens facing domestic violence at their homes have difficult times trying to figure out the occasions they are passing through and feel the rejection and the unworthiness of the existence in the families. This has led them in most cases have sleepless nights and nights that are full of scaring dreams brought about the scary actions that the teens are passing through in their family set up

Flashback to the episodes of domestic violence

The scenes of domestic violence are so harsh and bring a negative attitude to the teenagers, whose minds keep on referring back to the happenings of the violence this disrupting their peace and challenging their concentration in their daily activities. Time to time flashbacking to the events of violence that they have gone through in their families has resulted to the challenges of academic decline in their studies and instances where they fail to attend classes due to the feeling of neglecting and unacceptance by the society wholly due to the experiences they are going through in their families

Depression and suicidal thoughts

Domestic violence happens to cause a state of mind to teenagers that lower the enjoyment of life and the inability to visualize a happy future. Teenagers tend to feel unacceptable by both the society and the families they are raised from the cause of pain and suffering that they are enduring from their family level. It has led to them feel not fit for living in the current society due to the scenes they are facing “to them this is hatred” and from this point, they hate themselves and create a feeling of unworthy living. This gives them an idea that it’s better not to be existing than endure the suffering they are facing at the moment. These suicidal thoughts have been prevalent in our current era, where teenagers have taken away their life’s due to the suffering that they face within their family units.

Withdrawal and isolation

For teenagers, the fear of social rejection is numerous, rejection by their peers may be the most intense fear that teenagers face. Research confirms how crippling this fear can be and thus leading to teen isolation. The pain and suffering the teenagers are facing domestically are intrigued to social rejection .this has seen many of the teens choosing separation as a way of protecting themselves from the denial and suffering. Teenagers tend to withdraw after traumatic social experiences.e domestic violence and the pain from social anxiety and lack of social skills; however, teen’s isolation does not surprisingly make the teens lonelier. With the loneliness resulting in a wide range of unhealthy physically and psychological symptoms.  Bringing a warning on the of depression signs in teenagers giving an indicator of avoidant personality disorder.

Self-destructive behaviour

This acts like little suicide bombers where the teenagers express their anger by blowing themselves up this trying to revenge and stabilize the pain and suffering that they are going through at their family level. The anger turned inwards is precisely a hazardous form of passive aggression. When a teen cannot express the anger directly often due to anger unconsciousness, they cannot get over it so quickly. This drives them to act out in self-destructive ways which are motivated by the pain and suffering they are enduring. Teenage destructiveness takes different forms from those of having messy rooms to refusing to talk to their parents, getting into trouble with the law or even chronic school failure.

Problems with peers

Social and emotional maturity are in conjunction. Therefore emotional and social suffering among teens affects the relationships with their peers and changes as they become more sensitive and vulnerable and emotionally intimate with their peers. The teen years happens to be increasingly of importance in teens in developing friendships and closeness. Pain and suffering caused by domestic violence distract this friendship as they turn into their living.Where they isolate themselves from their friends and failure to express their problems make them not get the help to solve the suffering that they are enduring at the moment. The close friendship is threatened and declines with the quality of these relationships becoming more vulnerable due to the teens handling their experiences, for instance, domestic violence on their efforts

Substance abuse

Domestic violence doesn’t always comprise of physical violence. It can encompass other types of harm that overpower an individual and put them into fear of the other. To the teens being victims of domestic violence triggers them to substance abuse. With the women who have suffered the damage likely to abuse alcohol and also the likelihood to abuse other drugs more than those without any history of violence. The indulgence of the abused teenagers on drugs and substance abuse has in the late led to the development of effects that are adverse to their status and happens due to the pressure they find themselves due to the suffering and pain they are experiencing. This has seen most of the teenagers’ contract sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancies that they face along with the usage of drugs

Emotional numbness

These are the side effects, and the symptoms of a physical and mental cause’s, i.e. domestic violence. Teenagers finding themselves in this situation experience the following difficulties; distress, the feeling of being disconnected from one’s body and thoughts, a sense of being detached from the outside world. A state of feeling like a stranger or an outsider in one’s own life(depersonalization), a sense of meaningless hopeless or worthless, impaired social functioning or withdrawal from social settings. Emotional numbness in other cases leads the suffering teenagers to indulge themselves in the drug abuse mostly marijuana, severe depressions, panic or extreme anxiety attacks

Development of centres that provide counselling and advice to the affected teens

Domestic violence has been as the next big disaster that is sweeping out the development of substantial youths due to the agony they experience as they grow up.to curb these effects, there has been recently development of rehabilitation centres and counselling centres that have focused on serving the interest of the young generation that has been distracted by the challenges of the domestic violence by giving them guidance on how to handle the situation including reporting the incidences to the governmental bodies and drop out the assumptions that the violence’s may be due to family conflict

Pain and suffering that is experienced by the teenagers in our living today have to be managed rapidly both from the personal level to the social level and also through the government institutions. Failure to which the developing group of teenagers will comprise of incompetent less focused and ignorant persons who are not responsible in the society