Child Abuse Awareness Is Mental Health Awareness. Child Abuse Prevention Is Mental Health Prevention

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Child abuse awareness is mental health awareness. Child abuse prevention is mental health prevention. 

Childhood abuse is a major cause of mental illness. Victims of childhood abuse are at higher risk for a wide range of mental health conditions. 

Peruse the research literature, and you’ll find that childhood physical and/or sexual abuse are risk factors for almost every mental health condition, most notably:  depression, anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, anorexia and other eating disorders, addiction, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain syndromes, chronic fatigue syndrome, aggression, and personality disorders. 

Childhood abuse is common, even in surveys of the general population, with up to 31% of men reporting physical abuse and up to 29% of men reporting sexual abuse. These rates are even higher in women: up to 40% reporting physical abuse and up to 36% reporting sexual abuse. 

Abuse changes the structure of the brain. Brain scan studies show changes in and around the hippocampus, which appear to prime the brain for mental illness later on. 

Child abuse awareness is mental health awareness. Child abuse prevention is mental health prevention. This cannot be emphasized enough. 

Understanding and treating the effects of trauma on the neurobiology of the brain may lead to new treatments for conditions often considered unrelated to the trauma. 

Prevention of child abuse might go further toward improving population mental health than any other intervention. 

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Melissa Deuter.