The effects of domestic violence last a lifetime
Awareness, according to the dictionary, means the knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists. People are aware that domestic violence happens and it exists; it is the lack of knowledge and understanding that is the issue. Let me explain.
I am a survivor of domestic violence. Yes, a survivor — not a victim. I have endured black eyes, busted lips, mild concussions, fractured limbs and so much more. I suffered in silence because of the shame associated with being a victim of domestic violence. You hear people say all kinds of things: “I’ll never let a man hit me.” “Any woman that let a man hit her is weak.” “I don’t get why she would stay.” “She’s dumb for letting him hit her.” If it was that simple, do you really think that anyone would elect to remain in the situation?
It is not that simple to just pack up and leave, especially when you share kids with the abuser. Think about it. A person who is not being abused would not be able to just pack up and leave their mate right now if someone told them to. Imagine how it would be for a person who is being abused. In a healthy relationship, there is little to no risk of physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, financial, and/or social media abuse. Yet every second spent with an abuser, all of those things are at risk. It is not the same, nowhere near the same.
Most people think that when domestic violence victims leave, life gets better. That is one of the biggest misconceptions about domestic violence. Leaving the abuser does not equate to the abuse stopping. In most cases, it gets worst. I know for me that is when it got really, really scary. One incident was so severe it resulted in a protection order being put into place. I had the protection order from 2004 to 2019 because incidents kept happening. My abuser passed away,
yet the experience of the years of abuse still haunts me. I still have nightmares that cause me to wake up in a cold sweat and tears. I experience severe anxiety and fear when any man, even my own male children, stand over me when I am sitting. It causes me to flashback to those moments of horror, even though I know no one is going to hit me.
The effects of domestic
violence last a lifetime. The awareness on the topic is lacking in Dayton. I bet if you ask someone for a domestic violence resource, more than likely they will not have any, unless they were abused. The Artemis Center helped me become a survivor and bring awareness about domestic violence. The Artemis Center and domestic violence resource organizations such as the
YWCA can’t do it alone, however. It is for this reason that I created Mentally Expressive, LLC this year. It is an online resource that brings awareness and gives a voice to the victims and survivors of domestic violence.
October is Domestic Violence month. But what about November through September? How can awareness be increased? Increasing awareness all year long and making this uncomfortable topic one in which the victim is not shamed is top priority. Shame the abuser, not the abused. The next priority is ensuring that the victim knows she or he does not have to suffer in silence due to the shame of being abused because they know the person they are reaching out to understands. Encouraging other survivors to speak up and speak out shamelessly against domestic violence will bring awareness from the source. Understanding the minds of the victims will help others become allies to victims, thus leading them to becoming survivors. This will also help eliminate the negative feedback when people discover someone is a victim. That is what Mentally Expressive is striving for. That is how awareness is increased. You can learn more online at www. mentallyexpressive.com.
We seem to be beating COVID, yes?
The Ohio Department of Health this month said signs indicate the delta variant has plateaued, mirroring statements from other health officials. Daily reported COVID cases in Montgomery, Green, Preble, Clark and Warren counties continue to plummet. Warren, for example, had just 40 reported preliminary cases on Oct. 14, the lowest total in three months.
But we are far from out of the woods.
We are at the start of the flu season, which also began this month and lasts until May, with a typical peak season of December through March.
“We’re all concerned about what will happen when flu season hits especially if SARS-CoV-2 is still circulating,” said Dr. Susan L. Koletar. “Despite my optimism, I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon,” said Koletar, the director of the division of infectious diseases at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.
SarsCoV-2 is the scientific name for the coronavirus.
Koletar has a distinguished career in infectious disease research and has been one of America’s best doctors by US News & World Report for two decades running. She was on the front line of AIDS research and now studies the coronavirus.
Science has made tremendous progress during Koletar’s career. It took two years to identify the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS and just two weeks to sequence the coronavirus, Koletar said. Then, it took roughly two weeks from the time scientists identified the first confirmed case of coronavirus ( Jan. 18, 2020) until the time the FDA approved the first COVID test on Feb. 4. That’s blinding speed.
But there’s still so much we don’t know, including this:
“If (people) get a co-infection, do they do that much worse? That’s a really important question.”
Remember, in September 2020, Americans, by in large, stayed home or wore masks, mitigating the flu virus. The 2020 flu season was very mild, with only 2,000 laboratory-confirmed cases across the US.
But now, people want to get on with their lives and that leads to a poten
tially scary scenario, especially given these numbers: two in five Americans say
they’re not sure if they’ll get a flu shot this season, and one in four say they won’t get a COVID shot.
Medical professionals believe this flu season will be far worse and are bracing for a possible twindemic of COVID and flu. That’s not appealing. We’d rather focus on the upcoming holidays and celebrations than vitriol over masks, shots, and mandates.
But Mother Nature has other ideas. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects Ohio will suffer more than 5,800 deaths — that’s more than 84 for each day the rest of this year — that are attributable to COVID alone.
“I really think there is such compelling evidence for the effectiveness of COVID vaccines that everyone should get a COVID vaccine,” Koletar said, noting she’s a big believer in freedom of choice. “People should get flu shots every year. Because, again, even if it does not completely prevent the flu, it really prevents people from getting sick and dying and being hospitalized.”
I’m fully vaccinated against both (and will get the Moderna booster now that the FDA has approved it). As Koletar noted, no, the shots don’t prevent getting either virus but mitigate the chances of severe illness, hospitalization and death. That’s a scientific fact worth repeating.
I can’t imagine the pain of having both viruses in my system, and the thought of someone unvaccinated against them getting both sends shivers through my vaccinated body.
ost people have not lived through a pandemic like this in their lifetime,” Koletar said.
There is good news. Science continues to learn more about coronavirus each day and continues to develop new treatments. But Koeltar has a word of warning:
“We’re just not out of this yet.”
So do yourself a favor. If you’re one of the unvaccinated, consider the shots. Don’t listen to me. Listen to Dr. Koletar and her more than 30 years of experience in science.
More importantly, listen to your head. Getting flu and COVID while vaccinated scares me; I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who’s unvaccinated, including the people I care about. pages. can be