Link – Research Shows Strong Link Between Childhood Trauma And Adult Mental Illness
This is an interesting question, should we treat childhood trauma as a public health crisis?
“When public health officials get wind of an outbreak of Hepatitis A or influenza, they spring into action with public awareness campaigns, monitoring and outreach. But should they be acting with equal urgency when it comes to childhood trauma?
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests the answer should be yes. It shows how the effects of childhood trauma persist and are linked to mental illness and addiction in adulthood. And, researchers say, it suggests that it might be more effective to approach trauma as a public health crisis than to limit treatment to individuals.”
I don’t know that we know exactly what it would mean, but I think it’s clear that we know that childhood trauma leads to issues later in life, and those issues are a contributor to crime, violence, addiction and mental health issues. We also know that the best option, short of preventing childhood trauma is early intervention for children dealing with trauma.
Maybe if we treat it as a public health crisis, we can get more of that at the very least. That wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
