"NeuroEndocrinal" is a really cool word. 1st<->5th circuit entanglement ITT

[Telarus]

http://io9.com/#!5794603/theres-a-biological-reason-why-abused-kids-become-depressed-adults

Annalee Newitz — Young adults who were abused as children share a similar neuroendocrinal trait. When they confront ordinary situations of stress, like taking a test, their brains are flooded with abnormally high levels of the hormone cortisol. According to Queens University psychology professor Karen Harkness:

This kind of reaction is a problem because cortisol kills cells in areas of the brain that control memory and emotion regulation. Over time cortisol levels can build up and increase a person's risk for more severe endocrine impairment and more severe depression.

In her work, Harkness has found that childhood stress can have lasting effects on brain function, exacerbating depression and causing other psychological problems. As cortisol builds up in the brain, it can even cause "blunting" of normal stress responses, leaving young adults completely unable to deal with obstacles most of us would consider tough but surmountable. Her work is just further confirmation of what many neuroscientists have found over the past decade: Psychological horrors don't just haunt our dreams; they change the very structure and function of our brains.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh, well, THAT sucks.

[Wyldkat]

Perhaps I really should start saving for counseling fees for the boys....

It does make sense though.  There is a physical response to so much that happens.  It's getting to the point that it is simply a issue of finding the connection.

[LMNO]

I got a blockpage-- any sign that it's reversible?

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

I got a blockpage-- any sign that it's reversible?

Telarus reposted the whole article.

If you're blocked from the page linked back to the researcher, here it is:

Kate Harkness has found that a history of physical, sexual or emotional abuse in childhood substantially increases the risk of depression in adolescence by altering a person's neuroendocrine response to stress.

Adolescents with a history of maltreatment and a mild level of depression were found to release much more of the stress hormone cortisol than is normal in response to psychological stressors such as giving a speech or solving a difficult arithmetic test.

"This kind of reaction is a problem because cortisol kills cells in areas of the brain that control memory and emotion regulation," explains Dr. Harkness, a professor in the Department of Psychology and an expert in the role of stress and trauma in adolescent depression. "Over time cortisol levels can build up and increase a person's risk for more severe endocrine impairment and more severe depression."

At severe levels of depression, Dr. Harkness' team saw that the youths with a history of maltreatment had a total blunting of the endocrine response to stress. These findings suggest that the normal operation of the stress response system can breakdown in severely depressed adolescents.

These results are important because they show that environmental stress in childhood changes the function of the brain in ways that may cause and/or maintain severe psychiatric disorders such as depression.

Dr. Harkness recently presented her findings at the International Society for Affective Disorders Conference in Toronto. The research was funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and conducted in collaboration with Queen's researcher Jeremy Stuart and Kathy Wynne-Edwards from the University of Calgary.

[Jasper]

That's some fascinating research.  It checks out with a lot of my experience and knowledge too.  I've known a lot of people who seem to be depressed and have various endocrinal problems, and have markedly stressful childhoods.

I would be so pleased if it was reversible.