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Childhood Abuse and Depression - Anxiety Lives On
by Leonard Kady
It has been established that nature and nurture should not be taken as
enemies or total opposites, but as two intertwined realities that function
together to make up the human experience. Nature was designed for nurture.
Many recent and notable studies have documented the effects that early
childhood experience can have on both the physical and chemical makeup of
the brain. In particular, childhood abuse and/or neglect can permanently
alter an individual's physiology.
These physiological changes may lead to a greater likelihood of the person
suffering from depression or anxiety later in life.
Groundbreaking results from a major study of depressed women in the US
have shown that women who were abused as children have abnormally elevated
hormonal responses to stress compared to women with no history of abuse.
It suggests that childhood abuse is associated with persistent
hyperactivity of the hormonal system associated with the stress response
and this may cause greater vulnerability to psychiatric disorders in
adulthood.
The study, headed by Dr. Charles Nemeroff at Emory University, looked at
women diagnosed with clinical depression who had been abused as children;
depressed women with no past abuse; and healthy women. Each person was
given a moderately stressful experience and asked to perform simple
mathematic problems aloud for a panel of stalwart non expressive judges.
Cortisol and ACTH (two hormones that play a critical role in a person's
response to stress) were measured in each subject while she completed the
task. It was found that the levels of these hormones were especially
pronounced in women who were abused as children and who also had current
depression. In fact, their ACTH response indicators were more than six
times those of the healthy women.
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In addition to high levels of stress hormones, other studies by the same
group found that women who had been abused as children had abnormal
development of the brain's hippocampus, which suggests another physical
result of early abuse that could lead to permanent brain abnormalities in
later life.
Other brain structures can also be affected by early abuse or neglect.
While the basic unit of the brain is in place at birth, neuronal pathways
for the body's reaction to different experiences are still developing.
There is a critical period of time in a child's first three years of life
during which most of these pathways are formed. If a child receives
primarily negative stimulation early in life, pathways for forming lasting
relationships and responding to positive experiences can be stunted or
destroyed. While this may be a reaction to help the child survive, it can
cause permanent difficulties for the individual.
Other research shows that the brains of severely neglected children tend
to be smaller than average with underdeveloped areas in the cortex. The
long term implications of this are still being examined, but it shows one
more way in which nurture or lack of it can affect a person's biological
make-up.
The knowledge that nature and nurture are two crucial aspects to a
person's health will undoubtedly prove to be a very useful tool in the
research and treatment of psychiatric illness and may lead to even more
effective treatments in the future.
About the author:
Dr Leo Kady is a retired medical practioner, educator, and magazine
writer. He is currently an editor with U Publish -
http://www.upublish.info -
where you can find a great assortment of article talent.
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