If you need immediate help or advocacy for your domestic violence situation
For deaf/hard of hearing: 1-855-812-1011 (VP), 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
Online: https://www.thehotline.org/help/
Domestic violence-related traumatic brain injury (DV-related TBI) is a silent public health pandemic that destroys lives. In the United States (US), millions of women, children, and incur TBI and neurodegenerative diseases from domestic violence. The symptoms of DV-related TBI and progressive neurodegenerative diseases can be debilitating and impair the ability of individuals affected to fully participate in the workforce, in education, in their communities, and in all aspects of life. Many end up dying as a result.
Pánfila Domestic Violence HOPE Foundation (“Pánfila”) was created to ensure that brain injuries suffered by persons who experience domestic violence will no longer be overlooked.
Just as our society could not ignore evidence of an epidemic of lung cancer caused by tobacco, in our times, we must demand action in response to the epidemic of DV-related TBI.
Pánfila believes our society will demand action in response to the silent epidemic of DV-related TBI. Science will be the game-changing factor that ends the stigma of domestic violence and opens up long-needed conversations about saving lives while developing needed treatment and resources to all individuals suffering from DV-related TBI and neurodegenerative diseases.
A powerful new documentary, This Hits Home, tells intentional parts of Dr. Garay-Serratos’ domestic violence – related traumatic brain injury healing journey in the wake of learning that her mother’s repeated blows to the head from María’s father caused chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and possibly early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These progressive neurodegenerative disorders led to her mother’s premature death. Her resolve that all who are affected by DV must be heard and helped stems from the awareness that her father’s uncontrollable rages, impulses, irritability, etc. were also the result of the DV-TBI he suffered throughout his childhood at the hands of his father. The Cycle of DV as described in the US, simply does not apply to María’s family. No, for her family, it is the Cycle of DV-TBI.
This Hits Home is a new feature length documentary that reveals the invisible and silent epidemic of permanent TBI in women devastated by DV in the US. The intimate and compelling stories of courageous women, insights from lawmakers and DV authorities, and the shocking revelations from world renowned experts at the Mayo Clinic, Harvard University, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania, combine to paint a chilling portrait of brain injury that forever changes the lives of DV victims. Supported by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and the American Brain Foundation (ABF), this feature will unearth a distressing truth, begin a global discussion, and sound the alarm for a call to action.
Dr. Garay-Serratos is the Protagonist, Associate Producer, and Domestic Violence Expert Consultant for This Hits Home.
Have you seen
This Hits Home?
Click here to tell us what you learned from the film.
Tell us about your experience with domestic violence
Is DV-TBI a silent epidemic?