Childhood abuse can severely impact a victim's stress responses

By Staff Writer

Physical, sexual or emotional abuse during childhood can change a person's neural response to stress, new research indicates.

The findings, which were recently presented at the International Society for Affective Disorders Conference in Toronto, is based on a study of adolescents who had a history of maltreatment. These participants also exhibited mild forms of depression.

Experts discovered that these individuals released an abnormal amount of the stress hormone cortisol. These responses are come when troubled teens face everyday tasks in school such as an arithmetic test or a public speech.

They found that youths who had a history of abuse had a total blunting of the endocrine response to stress, which can lead to severely exaggerated emotional reactions.

Researchers said these reactions are a problem because cortisol skills cells in regions of the brain that are responsible for memory and emotion regulation. When these cortisol levels build up, they can increase an individual's risk for more severe depression.

Adolescents who were abused during childhood may benefit from therapy treatment. Many summer camps for kids offer these types of services.