Coronavirus

Opinion – No Room to Love — When Abuse in Confinement Pushes Couples Apart

Published

4 years ago

June 25, 2020

We have all heard alleged stories of famous couples’ volatile relationships: Ike and Tina Turner; Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston; Chris Brown and Rihanna; Mike Tyson and Robin Givens or Ray Rice and Janay Palmer. These couples suffered through alleged perpetrations of violence and abuse in the public view.

But in private, every day, throughout California — and now more than ever with the slow-easing social isolation orders brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic — we find families are forced to spend more time together than ever before.

Stuck in their homes, facing an uncertain future, watching news stories of chaos in the streets, we hear countless stories of couples who say they are feeling irritable, crowded, alone, isolated, helpless, or afraid.

Partners are finding themselves in close proximity to each other, some worrying about finances, others increasing alcohol and drug use. Many couples and families are in crisis. In fact, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has reported recently that abusers are using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for isolating domestic abuse victims from friends and family.

During this period, victims have reported being blamed for giving the virus to family members, threatened to be kicked out of the house, or not allowed to seek medical treatment for themselves or loved ones.

The California District Attorney’s office defines domestic violence as physical abuse, repeated psychosocial abuses, social isolation, intimidation, or economic coercion.

Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person. Typically, abusers physically hit, kick, or push their victim or their victim may be sexually abused and/or psychologically or emotionally abused.

Whether the perpetrator is using intimidation, making light of the ill-treatment, or shifting responsibility, saying, for example, that the victim’s behavior caused the violence, these are all examples of abuse in relationships.

Research has illustrated that person-directed violence is taught at home and learned at a very young age. We have learned that children who see their parents and other adults in violent relationships, often become victims or aggressors in their own lives. The goal in any domestic violent relationship is to stop the violence and control your own behavior.

In a broadcast in March 2009, former talk show host Oprah Winfrey said “If he hits you once, he will hit you again.” I think that for most victims, be they men or women, they just cannot believe that the person, who they love, can hurt them. They cannot believe that they have been belittled, made to feel less than who they are.

They cannot believe that the person who they placed their dreams in, who they believed that they would walk down life’s road with, would treat them with less respect than a random stranger.

However, as hard as it may be to believe, the facts do not lie and without extensive intervention, rest assured, the abuse will happen again. If experiencing this, make the call for help to the Domestic Violence Hot Line at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-SAFE or 1-800-VICTIMS.

Lenore A. Tate, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Sacramento, California. She has previously worked as Principal Consultant to the California Assembly and Senate Health Committees as well as the Senate Office of Research. For further information, see www.Lenoretate.com or email at DRTATE20@gmail.com

Dr. Lenore Tate

Special to California Black Media Partners

Posts by Dr. Lenore Tate

Bay Area

Authorities Warn: There’s a COVID Surge in California

According to data estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the coronavirus in California’s wastewater has spiked for eight consecutive weeks. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have also increased since the rise of the new subvariants. Over the last month, Los Angeles County experienced an average of 389 hospital patients per day that tested positive for the coronavirus. The FLiRT subvariants such as KP.3.1.1. Made up over 2% of coronavirus samples nationwide, an increase of more than 7% last month.

Published

4 months ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo provided by California Black Media.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California is experiencing a COVID-19 surge this summer, experts warn, as numbers of infections increased for the third month this year.

State public health authorities attribute the summer COVID surge to more infectious subvariants that have emerged as the coronavirus evolves.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, stated that subvariants of COVID-19 called FLiRT increased in recent months, particularly one named KP.3.1.1 that has become the most common strain in the country.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said that the subvariant KP.3.1.1 seems most adept at transmission.

“The subvariant is the one that people think will continue to take over, not only in the United States, but … around the world,” Chin-Hong said.

The majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 complained of a sore throat and a heavy cough. Risk factors that can increase the illness include age, underlying health issues, and vaccine dosage.

Health experts stated that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has increased in Northern California. However, people are having a hard time getting the vaccine due to the increasing number of cases.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

12 months ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

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