Health & Medicine - Posted by Michael Kennedy-Toronto on Monday, April 30, 2012 10:47 - 3 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Childhood abuse raises adult suicide risk
A strong association between childhood physical abuse and subsequent suicidal behaviors remained even after taking into account other known risk factors. (Credit: iStockphoto)
U. TORONTO (CAN) — Adults who were physically abused during childhood are more likely than their non-abused peers to have suicidal thoughts, new research shows.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
According to a new study, published online in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, approximately one-third of adults who were physically abused in childhood have seriously considered taking their own life—a rate that is five times higher than adults who were not physically abused in childhood.
The findings suggest that children exposed to physical abuse may be at greater risk for suicidal behaviors in adulthood.
Investigators examined gender specific differences among a sample of 6,642 adults, of whom 7.7 percent reported that they had been physically abused before the age of 18.
A strong association between childhood physical abuse and subsequent suicidal behaviors remained even after taking into account other known risk factors, such as adverse childhood conditions, health behaviors, and psycho-social stressors.
“This research provides important new knowledge about the enduring effects of abuse in childhood,” says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor of social work at the University of Toronto.
“The findings have important clinical implications for healthcare providers, suggesting the need to screen for suicidal ideation among adults who have experienced childhood physical abuse and highlighting the importance of providing preventive treatment to childhood abuse survivors.”
The findings open up further areas of research. Previous studies have theorized that habituation to high levels of pain and fear through childhood abuse may contribute to adults’ ability to inflict injury or harm on themselves.
Recent research suggests suicide may have developmental origins relating to abuse—that physical or sexual abuse may lead to changes in the stress response in the brain which increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior.
Co-author Tobi Baker, a former graduate student at the University of Toronto, notes that “one important avenue for future research is to investigate the bio-psycho-social mechanisms through which childhood physical abuse may translate into suicidal behaviors.”
More news from the University of Toronto: http://media.utoronto.ca/
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3 Comments
Beverly
Danny
I would have thought this has been the agenda all the time. Why can’t people accept it? This is a crucial statement that proves the kid was scarred mentally when they’re young while going through those abuses and in the future, if they didn’t end up committing suicide, they would most likely abusing their own kids. http://www.kidneyinfectionsymptomsinfo.com
In addition to increased risk of suicide, childhood abuse has other life-long consequences. It manifests itself into physical, mental, and emotional disorders in adulthood.
Those who are abused as children often treat their children the same way, because they grow up learning that kind of behavior is normal—and so the cycle continues.
Mary Sovran recently wrote an article, “Healing Childhood Emotional Abuse with Mindfulness Meditation.” As the title suggests, it incorporates mindfulness meditation to help the healing process.
She also describes an exercise called writing meditation, which she says dramatically changes the way we feel toward our abusers. She said that mindfulness meditation and the writing meditation enabled her to overcome the wounds from her childhood.
I would add that practicing mindful speech can also be instrumental in breaking the cycle.
Charles A. Francis
The Mindfulness Meditation Institute
Why am I not surprised! Its called PTSD. Got any quick, affordable ways to ferret it out and fix it? Probably not in the traditional medical community, not before the individual has major, major lifelong adjustment issues in many areas of life. Please check out The Emotion Code. You can do it yourself free of charge. It has helped both me and my husband. And yes, we both suffered abuse as children at the hands of parents. We were able to get his parent prosecuted and imprisoned for several years for the abuse he suffered. Some satisfaction there, but it seems like only The Emotion Code could help us get at and begin to heal those scars. Sorry folks, professionals, if you have invested tons of time and money in your counseling profession and you want to “guard” it from many angles. My husband and I have both seen counselors in one form or another most of our lives, and they did help some, but we still got the absolute most mileage out of The Emotion Code as far as improving the emotional quality of our lives.