As was addressed in the previous chapter, seven of the participating women accessed accident and emergency departments for help during the course of their abusive relationships, and all 10 approached their general practitioners for help and/or treatment in relation to physical and/or non-physical injuries. This chapter will examine in more detail how the participating women experienced those interactions, what types of treatment alternatives they were offered, and what types of treatments they wanted. The following extracts demonstrate how the health interaction itself contributes to a woman's understanding of the abusive relationship she is experiencing and the wider help-seeking processes she accesses.

Validation of experiences and ‘a sympathetic ear’

Both of the above extracts are important because they relate to interactions which occurred as a result of para-suicidal activity. Both the extract from Debbie (also displayed in full in the previous section) and the extract from Emma illustrate instances where the participating women were particularly vulnerable and suicidal and when they wanted to have their experiences heard and validated through the appropriation of the sick role. Both of the women above had attempted suicide, and therefore located themselves within the biomedical discourse, for validation of subjective experiences which were occurring outside of it. The responses which Debbie and Emma received are consistent with a biomedical/wound-led model approach to mental health disorders. It could be suggested, therefore, that without holistic/personled appropriation of the sick role, women who experience domestic violence may feel that in order to have their experiences validated they must resort to locating themselves within a biomedical model of health where their injuries are taken seriously. The irony, however, is that the appropriation of the sick role often excludes injuries including parasuicidal activity (Jeffery, 1979).