Childhood Abuse And Depression Anxiety Lives On

It has been discovered that nature and upbringing should not be regarded as enemies or objects of complete contradiction, but as two interconnected truths working together to form human knowledge. Nature was designed to grow.

Many recent and remarkable studies have documented the effects that a young child's experience might have on both physical and brain chemistry. In particular, child abuse and / or neglect can permanently change a person's body. These physical changes may lead to greater likelihood of someone suffering from depression or anxiety later in life.

The sad results from a large study of depressed women in the US showed that women who were abused as children had significantly increased hormone responses to depression compared to women who had no history of abuse. It suggests that child abuse is associated with a persistent persistence of the hormonal system associated with a stress response and this may pose a significant risk to mental retardation in adulthood.

The study, conducted by Drs. Charles Nemeroff of Emory University, looks at women diagnosed with trauma who have been abused as children; depressed women without past abuse; and healthy women. Each person was given a moderately stressful experience and asked to perform simple mathematical problems aloud in a strong non-verbal judging panel.

Cortisol and ACTH (two hormones that play a key role in a person's response to stress) are measured in each study while completing a task. It has been found that levels of these hormones are more pronounced in women who are currently being abused and distressed. In fact, their ACTH response indicators were more than six times higher in healthy women.

In addition to high levels of stress hormones, another study of the same group found that women who were abused as children had abnormal growth of the brain hippocampus, indicating another physical effect of premature abuse that could lead to permanent mental disorders in later life. .

Other brain structures may also be affected by premature trauma or neglect. While the basic brain unit is located at birth, the neuronal mechanisms of the body's response to various experiences are still developing.

There is a critical period in the first three years of a child's life when most of these mechanisms are formed. If a child receives negative feedback at the beginning of life, ways to form lasting relationships and respond to positive experiences can be crippled or even destroyed. While this may be a reaction to help the child survive, it may cause permanent harm to the individual.

Some studies show that the brains of the most neglected children are often smaller than the average with undeveloped areas in the cortex. The long-term effects of this are still being considered, but it does indicate another way in which your growth or deficiency may affect a person's biological makeup.

The knowledge that nature and upbringing are two vital aspects of human health will no doubt prove to be a very useful tool in the research and treatment of mental illness and may lead to even more effective treatment in the future.

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