Cumulative effects of trauma increase illness risk in later years
How you feel in your senior years can be affected by the accumulation of psychological trauma you experienced in your life. This news comes from a study in Psychology and Aging, which indicates a link between trauma and illness in later years.
What is Trauma?
Psychological trauma is the direct personal experience of an event that threatens a person’s health or safety. Trauma can also be caused by witnessing an event that involves death, injury, or a threat to another person. Examples of trauma include being in combat, witnessing a violent crime, being in a serious automobile accident, or experiencing a life-threatening illness.
In the study, researchers surveyed 1,518 American adults aged 65 and older to determine:
* If the accumulated lifetime trauma they experienced had an affect on their health
* The amount of acute and chronic health conditions and functional disability they experienced
Children May Heal Faster Than Adults
The study shows that trauma experienced during adults years had a greater effect on health status than trauma experienced during childhood.
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People age 65 and older were most affected by trauma they experienced between the ages of 18 and 64.
A researcher from the University of Michigan said that trauma can have the same initial effects on children as it does on adults, but the lasting effects on children may lessen by the time the child reaches adulthood.
Adult Trauma Can Increase Risk of Illness
The findings of this study suggest that patients and their doctors need to be aware of the effects of cumulative trauma during an adult lifetime. Exposure to trauma may help to explain why some older adults are more prone to illness than others.
If you have experienced trauma in your lifetime, it’s important to share that information with your healthcare providers. Your history can provide clues to your current health problems, and will help your healthcare providers suggest the most appropriate treatment.
