1 in 8 women will suffer a brain injury from domestic violence, Sask. conference hears

Women in Canada are almost as likely to suffer a brain injury as the result of interpersonal violence as they are to develop breast cancer, researchers say.

Neuroscientist Paul van Donkelaar was one of six speakers at a conference in Saskatoon this week that highlighted the prevalence of brain injuries in domestic violence victims.

“Brain Injury in intimate partner violence is very complex because there's a lot more going on than just the brain injury,” van Donkelaar said.

Victims often face mental health issues that coincide with a brain injury, he says.

“It’s really about the intersection between the brain injury and some of the other things that are going on, like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.”

Brain injuries caused by domestic violence are more likely to go undiagnosed, compared to ones endured while playing a sport or in a car accident — according to Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR).

SOAR executive director Karen Mason said a person may not realize they’re suffering from a brain injury.

“It’s really an invisible injury,” Mason told CTV News.

“A lot of women don't even realize they might have experienced a brain injury. Living in violence is something that they're used to. It's their normal. It’s their normal to wake up feeling like they didn't sleep well, maybe to be dizzy, to be forgetful, to have trouble regulating their emotions, it might not have ever crossed their mind that these symptoms are the result of a physical injury caused by their partner.”

The symposium aimed to teach the crowd signs of a brain injury, especially frontline workers — paramedics, police officers, doctors, lawyers and social workers — who can be a first-point contact for women fleeing violence.

“People with a brain injury walk off balance, they're often dizzy, they can't see straight, sometimes they don't hear well. They may not be able to process the information at the rate that someone else might be able to,” said Glenda James, executive director of the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association.

“We want people to know that this is an issue.”

The Canadian Royal Purple Society has adopted brain injury awareness as its national cause.

Sandi Lougheed, past national president of the non-profit, hopes that by talking about domestic violence, more people can spot a brain injury and more victims can get the treatment they need.

“One in three women will encounter interpersonal violence in their life, and one in eight who will have a brain injury as a result. Those statistics are mind-boggling, they’re similar to breast cancer,” Lougheed said.

She believes the stigma behind interpersonal violence is the reason brain injuries in these cases can go unrecognized.

“There’s a social stigma to being the recipient of interpersonal violence, of being hit. It's a tough story to tell,” Lougheed told CTV News.