Pain significantly affects women's experience of endometriosis. The medical treatment of endometriosis with pain may not be sufficient and psychological intervention is recommended.
This study aimed to develop a grounded theory of how endometriosis affects psychological health. Open interviews were conducted with 74 patients. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was administered to all women, who were divided into distressed vs. non-distressed. At the core of our grounded theory was the notion of disruption due to the common features of living with endometriosis. Experiencing disruption (vs. restoring continuity) involved higher distress and was associated with a long pathway to diagnosis, bad doctor-patient relationships, poor physical health, lack of support, negative sense of female identity, and identification of life with endometriosis.
Intimate partner violence (IPV)-defined as physical, psychological, sexual, and/or economic violence typically experienced by women at home and perpetrated by their partners or expartners-is a pervasive form of violence that destroys women's feelings of love, trust, and self-esteem, with important negative consequences on physical and psychological health. Many reports from several countries have underlined a remarkable increase in the cases of IPV during the COVID-19 emergency. In this opinion article, we discussed the hypothesis that such an increase may be related to the restrictive measures enacted to contain the pandemic, including women's forced cohabitation with the abusive partner, as well as the exacerbation of partners' pre-existing psychological disorders during the lockdown. In addition, we retrospectively analyzed some data derived from our practice in a public Italian referral center for sexual and domestic violence (Service for Sexual and Domestic Violence [SVSeD]). These data interestingly revealed an opposite trend, that is, a decrease in the number of women who sought assistance since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Such a reduction should be interpreted as a negative consequence of the pandemic-related restrictive measures. Although necessary, these measures reduced women's possibilities of seeking help from antiviolence centers and/or emergency services. Owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is an urgent need for developing and implementing alternative treatment options for IPV victims (such as online and phone counseling and telemedicine), as well as training programs for health care professionals, especially those employed in emergency departments, to facilitate early detection of IPV.
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