This Hits Home

Dr. Garay-Serratos’ domestic violence – traumatic brain injury/chronic traumatic encephalopathy (DV-TBI/CTE) journey in the wake of learning that her mother’s repeated blows to the head, specifically, nonconcussive head impacts, from María’s father caused CTE and possibly early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), serves as the backdrop for This Hits Home, a powerful new feature documentary. 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 most likely from CTE as a result of the DV-TBI he suffered throughout his childhood at the hands of his father. 

This Hits Home reveals the invisible and silent epidemic of TBI in women devastated by DV in the US. Along with Dr. Garay-Serratos’ story, the intimate and compelling stories of courageous DV female victims, survivors, and thrivers, 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 individuals impacted by DV. Supported by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and the American Brain Foundation (ABF), this feature unearths a distressing truth, begins a global discussion, and sounds the alarm for a call to action.

Dr. Garay-Serratos is the Protagonist, Associate Producer, and DV-TBI/CTE Expert Consultant for This Hits Home.