Experts point out that being a woman brings difficulties along with the duties and responsibilities imposed in various cultures and draw attention to the negative effects of this situation on women's psychological resilience. According to experts, the most important factor in coping with psychological violence is knowing oneself well. Knowing oneself well strengthens the coping mechanism.
Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center Specialist Clinical Psychologist Cemre Ece Gökpınar Çağlı pointed out that women assume many roles in social and business life as well as their duties in the family.
Women can be subjected to psychological violence
Cemre Ece Gökpınar Çağlı stated that being a "woman" brings difficulties along with the duties and responsibilities imposed in various cultures and said, "The duties imposed on the female role and expected to be performed only in that role can have negative effects on women's psychological resilience. Women who are expected to take an active role both at home and at work may be exposed to psychological violence in both environments. For example, a working woman may feel inadequate if only housework is expected of her. Expecting common tasks such as cooking, washing clothes, putting the child to sleep, etc. only from women is a form of oppression against women, whether they work or not. Or, negative beliefs such as the possibility of female employees giving birth and taking leave, and that their job performance will decrease when they get married may lead to women candidates not being preferred in recruitment processes. In another example, women in managerial positions may be exposed to examples such as "not being counted" and "not being valued" along with prejudices against them."
Self-recognition strengthens coping mechanisms
Cemre Ece Gökpınar Çağlı noted that if a person internalizes and tends to internalize the psychological violence directed against him/her, this will seriously affect the self-esteem of the person, "First of all, the person needs to strengthen his/her psychological resilience and self-esteem. In order not to internalize this situation and to cope with it, first of all, awareness should be high and the source of violence should be well defined. Knowing oneself and being aware of how much one's thoughts manage one's emotions will strengthen the coping mechanism. The way we perceive the world will direct our emotions and our emotions will direct our behavior. For this reason, we need to know ourselves first, learn to recognize others in the next step and go to the solution with functional ways."
Beware of burnout syndrome!
Cemre Ece Gökpınar Çağlı, who also stated that women may sometimes experience burnout syndrome due to their social roles and the multitude of tasks on them, said: "Burnout syndrome can be simply described as feeling tired and exhausted mentally and physically. It is an indication of burnout that the person does not find the strength and motivation to work, have fun and fulfill even daily activities. Sometimes it can be said that the person also has difficulties in stress and anger management with the weakening of coping mechanisms. Over time, the person may start to drift away from work, show up late, have difficulty focusing, and have difficulty making decisions. Forgetfulness and difficulty in organizing are among the symptoms we observe in burnout syndrome."
Psychological violence can lead to burnout
Pointing out that long-term mobbing - psychological violence can lead to burnout, Cemre Ece Gökpınar Çağlı said, "In the concept we call learned helplessness, if the person thinks that no matter what he does, the result will be negative, he will give up trying. If the person who is subjected to long-term mobbing thinks that no matter what he/she does, the result will not change and this violence will continue, the person will give up trying and will eventually feel tired and exhausted. This can lead to mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, anger management difficulties, panic attacks, alcohol and substance use disorders. All these mental disorders can be controlled with the correct determination of the stressors of the person and the right treatments to be tailored to the person."
