Higher risk of disease due to trauma

Violence against children promotes later disease risk in adulthood

25/03/2011

Tens of thousands of children and adolescents are physically abused or sexually abused each year in Germany. Most of the sometimes severely traumatized children later not only suffer from psychological limitations but are generally more susceptible to physical illness or infection. This was reported by Professor Johannes Kruse during an event at this year's German Congress for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy in Essen. The physician refers to a series of scientific studies published on this topic.

10 percent of all children are victims of violence
More than ten thousand children and adolescents are physically, emotionally or sexually abused each year by their parents or relatives. Recent studies assume that five to ten percent of children in Germany have already experienced sexual abuse. About 10 percent of all children in the household are subjected to severe physical violence. The number of unreported cases should be a lot higher, because not all cases of abuse are actually brought to the ad. According to recent scientific studies, the later consequences of traumatization are not only of a psychological nature, but also partly affect physical susceptibility to diseases. Anyone who was abused during his childhood would also be more susceptible to chronic pain, certain cardiovascular diseases or diabetes in later life, said Prof. Kruse during an event on psychosomatics in Essen.

Reasons for susceptibility
To compensate for trauma, many patients are fleeing into an unhealthy lifestyle. Those affected often drink a lot of alcohol, eat unhealthy food, smoke or consume drugs. Because many patients by so-called „flashbacks“ and „triggers“ Under constant stress, stress hormones favor the development of chronic inflammatory processes. „Many traumatized people smoke, eat unhealthily, and move less“, explained the pain expert.

Destructive coping with affect states
Smoking plays a major role as a coping strategy in affective states. When certain memories (triggers) make old memories emotionally palpable and traumatized people feel overwhelmed, cigarettes serve as a self-calming strategy, Kruse explained. Studies have shown that victims of violence respond excessively to stressful situations and increase the release of hormones. „In these people, the body releases more stress hormones during exercise and over a longer period of time.“ Scientists suspect that the increased release increases the heart rate, breathing and blood pressure. This in turn burdens the heart and makes it more susceptible to infectious diseases and cardiovascular complaints.

Therapeutic help for everyday use
More than half of all traumatized persons suffer from a post-traumatic stress disorder in later adulthood. How high the susceptibility to organic diseases actually is, can only be surmised. The result tends to be similar here. This is also confirmed by Gritli Bertram, diploma social worker of a therapeutic residential group in Hanover. „Alcohol, cigarettes and overeating are among the most destructive coping strategies of those affected. We also observe a higher disease risk. Many also suffer from diseases such as asthma or chronic skin diseases. For traumatized people this means a significant additional burden. Therefore, it is important to prepare for everyday use during therapy, e.g. To show and learn constructive coping.“ (Sb)

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Picture: Martin Schemm