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http://sfhelp.org/gwc/news/abuse-suicide.htm
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This research summary supports four basic premises in this
educational site:
-
childhoods - characterized by
and
-
hinder normal brain devel-opment, and often cause psychological
in
young kids which they usually bring into adoles-cence and adulthood.
-
Suicidal thoughts and attempts probably
indicate childhood abuse and neglect;
-
(Without appropriate intervention), the
psychological effects of childhood abuse and neglect may pass down the
generations, and...
-
Skilled psychotherapy causes brain and
behavioral changes.
See my further comments after the summary. The links and hilights below
are mine.
- Peter Gerlach, MSW,
Independent researcher.
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Nearly 2 million people in the United States and many more in the world are
impacted by divorce each year. There have been a variety of studies that
have hinted that divorce may be linked to the increased chance of an early
death, but overall the evidence has been mixed.
David Sbarra, Rita Law, and Robert Portley from the University of Arizona
recently published a study to summarize the evidence on the link between
divorce and early death. They gathered data from 32 studies involving more
than 6.5 million people in 11 countries that included 755,000 divorces and
160,000 deaths.
In general, the researchers found that adults who were divorced were 23%
more likely to die younger than their married counterparts. Men had almost
twice as high a risk of early death compared to women. People younger than
65 years of age were more at risk following divorce than older people. This
pattern was consistent regardless of what country people lived in.
The next question asked by the researchers was whether divorce "caused"
death. Now this may seem obvious, but even with prospective data, it is not
always the case that correlation mean causation. One important consideration
is a selection effect that accounts for both divorce and death. The authors
write, "social selection holds that some people possess characteristics that
increase risk for both separation/divorce and poor health outcomes.
Hostility, depression and substance abuse are just a few examples of the
many processes that can increase the likelihood of future divorce...and are
unique predictors of early death..." In other words, some common
characteristic is causing both divorce and death. These data do not allow us
to test the selection hypothesis and therefore, we cannot rule out this
selection effect.
The authors conclude their study with a thoughtful analysis of the
mechanisms through which divorce might lead to early death. Their first idea
is that because divorce often reduces the financial status of both husbands
and wives, this may impact health. In general, we know that individuals with
lower economic means are more at-risk of health problems. Another
consequence of divorce is that people's social ties are disrupted. Divorced
men and women are less likely to maintain ties to neighbors, churches, clubs
and so forth. Again we know that strong social relationships benefit health
and well-being.
Another possible way in which divorce influences well-being is through
health habits. There is some strong evidence that following divorce, women
in particular are more likely to resume smoking. There is some evidence to
suggest that eating habits and sleeping patterns are also disrupted.
Finally, there is the possibility that the stress of divorce disrupts
biological functions which puts people more at risk. In a previous study,
Sbarra demonstrated that divorced people who reported more difficulty
handling their emotions following divorce had higher blood pressure. This
finding suggests that stress-related difficulties brought on by divorce may
contribute to poorer health.
Despite the general finding that divorce increases the risk of early death,
the authors urge caution in the interpretation of these findings. They note
that many people remarry and this was not taken into account in this study.
They also suggest that until more work is done that controls for selection
factors and includes the various mechanisms, it would be unwise to base too
much on the findings of this one study. Although the findings from this
study remain open to further exploration, the analysis by these authors is a
welcome reminder of the complexities of understanding the effects of
divorce.
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Comments
Based on 29 years' professional research,
this nonprofit Web site invites
visitors to admit and break the toxic
of inherited psychological
The report above supports several key concepts in this unacknowledged
cycle - i.e. that (a) childhood abuse and neglect inhibits young brain
development, and (b) skilled psychotherapy can
these toxic effects in some people.
Many mental-health researchers have
suggested that human personalities are caused by dynamic "subselves" or
"subpersonalities."
PET scans confirm that (a) different brain regions have different
func-tions, and (b) can respond to sensory information concurrently, like a
network of specialized computers. In
this Web site, these specialized brain regions are called
This McGill University research suggests that childhood abuse and neglect
affects the development of brain regions (i.e. of personality subselves),
which later promote suicidal thoughts and actions in some survi-vors (
(GWCs).
The research doesn't suggest that early neglect (ineffective par-enting)
causes psychological wounds that promote most "mental health,"
relationship, and social prob-lems. This Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE
report-summary doesn't (a) directly suggest any
of the study's findings, or propose any solutions.
in this Web site does. Much
more research in the long-term personal, family, and social effects of
premature child conception and ineffective parenting is urgently needed.
- Peter K. Gerlach, MSW
For more perspective, see...
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