Effects of Child Abuse Last a Lifetime

[rward]

A new study shows that, surprise!, the effects of child abuse are serious and can last a lifetime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new ... ml?hpid=z5

unbroken link to washington post.

New report finds that effects of child abuse and neglect, if untreated, can last a lifetime

6

Share to Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on LinkedIn

Add to PersonalPost

Share via Email

Print Article

More

By Brigid Schulte, Thursday, September 12, 1:00 PM E-mail the writer

In the first major study of child abuse and neglect in 20 years, researchers with the National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday that the damaging consequences of abuse can not only reshape a child’s brain, but can last a lifetime.

Untreated, the effects of child abuse and neglect, the researchers found, can profoundly influence a child’s physical and mental health, their ability to control emotions and impulses, their achievement in school, and the relationships they form as children and as adults.

--------

Research has found that abuse and neglect can influence the amygdala, a part of the brain that regulates emotions, particularly fear and anxiety. Abuse has also been shown to change how the prefrontal cortex functions, the part of the brain responsible for thinking, planning, reasoning and decision-making, which can lead to behavioral and academic problems.

But there is hope, researchers said.

“The effects seen on abused children’s brain and behavioral development are not static,†said committee member Mary Dozier, chair of Child Development at the University of Delaware. “If we can intervene and change a child’s environment, we actually see plasticity in the brain. So, we see negative changes when a child is abused, but we also see positive brain changes with the abuse ends and they are more supported. Interventions can be very effective.â€

[gustava]

Unless you're Richard Dawkins.

[So Many Lies]

Hope you saw my huge rant on the other threat about Dawkins. He makes my blood boil. Dawkins is a disgrace to the secular world. His arrogance, sexism, elitism and now this. He has just endorsed pedophilia, sorry "mild" pedophilia. What a dickhead. Dawkins fancies himself as the messiah of humanism. He is a meglomaniac.

[Peas n carrots]

Confirms what most of us here think.

[polecat]

Confirms what most of us here think.

Not I. I strongly dislike implications that children who are abused are somehow damaged or broken for life.

There are certainly consequences that survivors suffer through, but most are indeed survivors. I think it's important to highlight the part that says that once a person is out of the abusive situation and has the support he or she needs, that the brain adjusts -- it's a healing process, for sure, but abuse does not have to destroy a person.

So, we see negative changes when a child is abused, but we also see positive brain changes with the abuse ends and they are more supported. Interventions can be very effective.â€

Also, centrefortherapy.ca/Mythsofabuse.