TBI more common among domestic violence survivors than American football players

Traumatic brain injury is more common among domestic violence survivors than American football players, new research has found.

Survivors of abuse can sustain head trauma more often than those playing the sport, with many experiencing injury from strangulation or blunt force trauma.

Desiree Gorbea-Finalet of Disability Rights North Carolina said: “Brain injuries are much more common than people realise, and folks with intimate partner violence have been silently suffering for so much longer than people realise.”

Research from the National Center for Biotechnology Information highlights the scale of the problem among survivors of abuse such as intimate partner violence.

Gorbea-Finalet, who began researching brain injuries six years ago, said survivors can sustain two types of brain injury.

“They can have two different types of brain injury, and it could be because strangulation happened or it could be because they had blunt force trauma happen.”

Strangulation involves pressure on the neck that cuts off air supply, while blunt force trauma refers to injury from impact with an object.

The frequency of abuse adds to the risk, according to Gorbea-Finalet. “Because when we think about how often it takes a person to leave a partnership, it takes seven times in order for someone to leave a violent partnership.”

State leaders in North Carolina outlined support for those affected. Alma Adams, who serves the state’s 12th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, told constituents about US$475m she secured in federal grants during her State of the District address on Thursday night.

A portion of that funding will go to resources for people affected by intimate partner violence and other projects.

Adams said: “Nearly US$8m in community project funding; last year we got more than that, and they cut the budget a little bit.”

She added: “Even in the US$8m, it’s made a real tangible difference in our community.”