Increase in Grant County domestic violence observed during holidays
By Logan Bagett on Tuesday, November 5th, 2024 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
JOHN DAY – Heart of Grant County Executive Director Beth Simonsen was recently in KJDY Studio to discuss domestic violence awareness here locally. Simonsen said, unfortunately, this is the time of year when her office sees an increase in domestic incidents:
“Yes, as we head into the holidays, it can be stressful. Everybody hopes that everyone will get along; or they will put on a good face to make it look like they’re getting along, or things might blow up.
[Another situation might be] during the holidays everything went well, then, after the holidays they wonder why they went back to the blow-ups.”
Simonsen said the best thing folks can do this time of the year is to increase your self-awareness and be patient with others:
“Just be self-aware. ‘What am I doing? Am I angry? Is it because I’m in pain, and where is the pain coming from? Is it emotional pain? Physical pain? Am I self-medicating? Am I taking prescription medication, or am I doing a combination of both? Is that making my brain not work well?’”
Listen to the full podcast for more tips from Simonsen below:
