Children's trauma tripling the risk of psychosis

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, are characterized by the fact that the sufferer dissociates them from reality. A new study found that a specific trauma in childhood may triple the risk of developing psychotic disorders. It's about bullying in childhood by siblings. And interestingly, the risk is tripled irrespective of whether the developing syndrome at later age is the victim of bullying or abuser.

And in children who are bullied both at home and at school, the risk of developing psychosis is at least four times the risk for other children . Psychoses include hallucinations, illusions, or paranoid and intrusive thoughts. Professor Dieter Voltke, lead author of the study, explains:

"Until now, bullying from brothers and sisters in childhood has been almost completely ignored as a possible cause of serious psychological problems, such as psychotic illnesses. Children spend a great deal of time with their brothers and sisters in the limited space of their family and home. Therefore, if subjected to harassment and excluded from this community, it can lead to social isolation and self-induction of guilt, which in turn will lead to the development of a mental illness later. In fact, this is the news in our results, which are perhaps a little unexpected. "

The study examined 3600 children who were followed up for 6 years. Of these, 664 children were harassed by brothers and sisters, 486 were pure offenders, and 771 were both violent and victimized. Those who, in any way, have been involved in child harassment, as victims or abusers, have had a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of developing a psychotic illness.

Source: www.psychologytoday.com
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