December 23, 2024

Alarming Findings: New Study Reveals Childhood Abuse Drives 40% of Mental Health Conditions

Youth maltreatment was found to account for 41 percent of suicide efforts in Australia, 35 percent for cases of self-harm, and 21 percent for depression.The analysis, released in JAMA Psychiatry is the first study to offer price quotes of the proportion of mental health conditions in Australia that develop from childhood maltreatment. The study also found the removal of childhood maltreatment in Australia would, in 2023, have actually prevented 66,143 years of life lost (death) and 118,493 years lived with special needs, amounting to 184,636 years of healthy life lost through psychological health conditions.Researchers taken a look at data that consisted of national studies provided by the Australian Child Maltreatment Study in 2023 (8500 participants), the Australian National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2020-2022 (15,893 individuals), and the Australian Burden of Disease research study 2023. In Australia, suicide is the leading cause of death for young people.Previous research study (independent of the University of Sydney research study) found over half (53.8 percent) of Australians experienced maltreatment throughout their childhood.Dr Grummitt stated there are reliable interventions, such as programs to support kids experiencing maltreatment or moms and dad education programs, however the most sustainable option to avoid child maltreatment is policy-driven avoidance.