UM Surabaya Lecturer Shares Mental Recovery Tips for Victims of Domestic Violence

• 05 Oct
• 2022

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UM Surabaya Lecturer Shares Mental Recovery Tips for Victims of Domestic Violence

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• By Uswah Sahal
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Rizky Billar's partner Domestic Domestic Violence (KDRT) against his wife Lesti Kejora is one of the more than tens of thousands of cases recorded at the Ministry of Women and Child Protection as of October 2022.

Many condemned the incident and many praised the courage of the victim in taking the decision to immediately report it to the authorities. Apart from violating the law, domestic violence has a very fatal impact on victims, both physically and mentally.

Lecturer in Psychiatric Nursing at the University of Muhammadiyah Surabaya (UM Surabaya) Uswatun Hasanah explained that the physical effects of domestic violence can be treated by taking treatment to health care facilities, but the psychological impact (trauma) can be a permanent impact which can recur at any time if you are in a similar situation, triggering the emergence of unpleasant memories and experiences of experiencing domestic violence.

Uswatun explained, trauma is a condition that is difficult to heal, it takes a long time, even years, for victims of violence to be truly released from their trauma.

"Therefore, it is necessary to immediately carry out psychological treatment and assistance for victims of domestic violence so they don't experience post-traumatic stress," said Uswatun Wednesday (5/10/22)

In a written statement, he shared several things that can be done to assist the process of recovering the psychological condition of victims who have recently experienced domestic violence, including:

First protect yourself. The first step that can be taken to avoid the wider impact of violence is to secure oneself in a safe place, including in terms of distancing oneself from the perpetrators, so that the behavior of domestic violence does not continue.

Both are looking for support. Full support from those closest to you is one of the factors that can strengthen yourself, especially psychologically.

The three tell a story. Telling the events experienced is a form of therapy. Of course, when we decide to tell a story, we choose the right people who can be trusted. Storytelling can be done with parents, friends, support groups, or therapists.

Fourth write. Writing is a form of recovery that can be done if you are not ready to share your experiences or traumatic conditions. By writing, emotional pressure can be relieved so that stress is reduced.

Fifth seek or join a support group. Joining a support group can help in recovering from trauma, because a person will realize that he is not alone, and there are other people who are going through the same thing and giving each other support.

Sixth, train yourself or learn about the ins and outs of domestic violence and how to deal with it. Sufficient knowledge regarding violence and its handling is very necessary. This will be very helpful if one day you are in the same situation, so you know what to do, who to contact or even how to give a code/sign that you are currently experiencing violence and need help.

Seventh, make regular visits to mental health professionals to get other additional therapies to help speed up the recovery process.

The eight exercises gradually control the trauma. When there are triggers for trauma, try to be able to control the symptoms of trauma that arise independently with relaxation techniques, distraction, meditation, or even doing activities you enjoy. This can shift your focus to memories related to the traumatic event.

Ninth, re-establish connections. Trauma will make a person distrust the people and the environment around him so that a person withdraws from the social environment.

“When the trauma and traumatic events can slowly be handled or controlled, start reconnecting with a social environment that makes you comfortable. Rebuilt connections allow a person to get support and can divert memories from traumatic events,” concluded Uswatun.