Childhood Adversity/Trauma

Philip Perry, writing for Big Think, covers studies in epigenetics revealing how trauma can be passed on through generations. Article →

From The Atlantic: Although acceptance of LGBT individuals is growing, LGBT teens still on average experience lower life satisfaction and more depression than their straight peers,...

“The fact that drinking sugar or exposure to early life stress reduced the expression of genes critical for brain development and growth is of...

When I teach workshops or lead discussions on coming off psychiatric drugs and alternatives, there are invariably parents present who are at loose ends. They want to know what to do for their children, how to help them best, and how it can be possible for their child to live without medication given all they have been through.

Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, a recipient of a 2013 MacArthur Foundation genius award, wrote: “ ACE Scores should become a vital sign, as important as height, weight,...

Researchers from the universities of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Orleans collected MRI scans and assessments of executive functioning and stress exposure from 61...

Children who lose a parent before the age of 3 are 84% more likely to experience psychosis as adults, according to research published in...

MIA contributor, Peter Kinderman, from the University of Liverpool, is teaching a free online course that explores new perspectives on the “nature vs nurture” debate, and how we are affected by life experiences.

The National Institutes of Health announced $157 million in awards in fiscal year 2016 to launch a seven-year initiative called Environmental influences on Child...

For most parents, addressing the topic of death is an uncomfortable proposition. Yet, it may be one of the most important discussions we have with our children.  Our lifelong response to death often affects our mental and physical health.  We must teach our children practices from an early age that can buffer the unavoidable distress that would come if the worst occurs.

Gianna Kali reviews the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, "one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life...

From UT News: A new study has found that allowing transgender youths to use their chosen name at home, school, and work dramatically decreases their risk...

Psychology Today offers a psychoanalytic perspective on childhood bipolar disorder that finds trauma at the root, a view that sees Beyond Meds as extending beyond the diagnoses...

Writing for Truth-Out, hurricane Katrina survivor G. Maris Jones writes: “To adapt to a changing climate, survivors of these catastrophes - especially those in marginalized, low-income communities - need long-term physical and mental health services.” She adds a concurrent call to “assume our responsibility to make positive change through action on climate change.”

In a sample of 175 persons with severe mental illness, researchers at the University of Hawaii found that rates of trauma exposure and PTSD...

Researchers in the U.K. (lead by Richard Bentall) found that specific childhood adversities were significantly associated with specific forms of psychosis in adulthood in...

On Tuesday, NPR told the story of DeAngelo Cortijo. DeAngelo became a foster kid at age 3 after his mother attempted suicide. He was “diagnosed with bipolar and anxiety disorders, attachment disorder, intermittent explosive disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder,” and was prescribed “a combination of antipsychotics, antidepressants and stimulants, and was told that taking them was his only hope of being normal.” Through equine therapy, DeAngelo was eventually able to get off all of his medication. Now, California is hoping to pass reforms that would prevent foster kids, like DeAngelo, from being “prescribed antipsychotic drugs at double to quadruple the rate of that not in foster care.”

Researchers in Spain assessed 71 patients diagnosed with psychoses for dissociative experiences, trauma, delusions and hallucinations. Childhood trauma was positively associated with dissociation (r =...

Data from the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey showed that early-onset mental disorders were associated with reduced household income in high and...

Psychologist William Copeland writes for Mental Health Recovery that “bullying can occur at any age and the effects of which remain harmful long after the behavior has been endured.” “We, as a society, are just beginning to understand and come to terms with the havoc that bullying wreaks on the emotional lives of its victims.

L. Alan Sroufe, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, writes in the New York Times Sunday Review that there is no...

“Children from poorer families are more likely to experience changes in brain connectivity that put them at higher risk of depression, compared with children from more affluent families,” according to new research covered by Medical News Today. "Poverty doesn't put a child on a predetermined trajectory, but it behooves us to remember that adverse experiences early in life are influencing the development and function of the brain. And if we hope to intervene, we need to do it early so that we can help shift children onto the best possible developmental trajectories."

From The Guardian: According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the number of children and young people seeking mental health support has spiked since recent...

Researchers at Emory University find that childhood trauma, sensitivity to psychosocial stress and a heightened biological response to stress are associated with the onset...

The U.K.'s Guardian newspaper concludes that "The government is right: children need love as much as they do vitamins – and a lack of...