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TAMUCT giving out free screenings for National Depression Screening Day

Posted at 11:33 AM, Oct 06, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-06 12:33:54-04

KILLEEN, Texas — Domestic violence is a horrible and traumatizing experience.

“You start to feel like maybe they were right, maybe I am nothing," Paris Groves said.

"Maybe it is my fault,”

Groves said she was abused by her ex-husband, a man she dated since high school.

“After a while, he just became very controlling," Groves said.

"Very abusive... I stayed..... I did the cliché thing... and I always tried to change them or accept every apology,”

Groves said she was beaten, sexually assaulted and manipulated.

All of it impacted her mental health.

“Psychologically, it makes you depressed. You feel like... 'Who am I?' You really feel like I don’t know myself anymore,” Groves said.

“Medical studies have concluded that domestic violence strongly affects the mental health and quality of life of those abused," TAMUCT Compliance and TITLE IX Officer Jacqueline Orellana said.

"Some of those common symptoms experienced are depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD and eating disorders,”

Texas A&M University-Central Texas is partnering with TITLE IX to offer to take-home depression and anxiety screenings at their 'Say My Name' National Depression Screening Day.

It aims to help students on campus find resources and identify factors of domestic violence.

“Researchers have found only 10 to 25% of survivors of family violence will access services and that includes mental health services and that includes mental health services," Orellana said.

"So this is our way to reach out and give people that option."

Groves divorced her husband in 2012.

She said it’s important to acknowledge the mental health issues that come with domestic violence because it could give someone else the strength to move on.

“You pretty much have to push yourself to understand the truth past what you feel,” Orellana said.