Mental health and early disability | Middle East

It is known that the traumatic events of childhood can lead to poor mental health of the child, leaving very bad effects on the psychological and physical levels that can accompany it until adulthood and sometimes for the rest of the child. his life. Of course, there are thousands of studies that have addressed the relationship between unhappy childhood and later mental disorders, as well as its main role in many chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The most recent of these studies indicated the relationship between childhood mental illness and early disability, and the appearance of a person looking taller than their actual age.

Psychological disorders in children
The study by scientists at Duke University in North Carolina, United States, showed that the characteristics of adults who suffered from psychological disorders as children appear to be greater than those of their peers of the same age. , and they attributed this to organic diseases that most of them suffer from due to poor psychological condition and constant anxiety such as early high blood pressure, which increases their chances of having a stroke. stroke or heart attack, and most of them do not accept, and most of them exercise in addition to their various eating disorders, whether they eat or abstain from eating altogether , as well as health complications. What happens to them due to their inability to take treatment for their poor psychological state?
The researchers had conducted two separate studies to come to this conclusion. And in the first study, which was published in the electronic version of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Association, JAMA Psychiatry in mid-February of this year, in which they traced the medical records of a thousand New Zealanders born in 1972 and 1973 from birth to the age of 45 (mid-age). And it turns out that those who suffered from anxiety, depression or various fears during childhood and adolescence had a decline in mental and cognitive abilities, as the nerve connections to feel diminished more than their healthy peers. health, and there were always comments about their appearance. that he appeared to be older than their age, and these signs were (whether organic disease or appearance) after scientists installed other factors that would affect public health such as smoking, obesity, the patient’s history of other organic diseases, or any medication that has side effects that affect the nervous system.

Early aging
In the second study conducted by the same research team and published in the Medical Journal of the American Association JAMA Network Open, they analyzed the medical records of New Zealand society in general from different hospitals (2.5 million elderly residents ten years). at sixty years) in the period from 1988. Until 2018.
The result was the same as that achieved in the first study, namely that there is a strong link between suffering from mental illnesses early in a person’s life and the subsequent development of early signs of aging at organic levels, nervous and psychological.
The researchers explained that treating mental illness in childhood and adolescence is seen as a form of investment in the general health of society later on, and that the psychological harm to the child goes beyond the temporary effect and negatively affects all areas of his later life, even those that seem unrelated to the psychological factor, such as his material and economic condition, where scientists have found that people who suffer from psychological disorders are unable to ‘innovate in their job or work seriously, as well as not developing in a way that makes them sought after in the job market, which puts them in a vicious cycle of frustration and lack of success. In addition, most of them become addicted to drugs or narcotics and alcohol, which prevents them from working regularly.

– bad habits
Scientists have indicated that poor health habits associated with mental illness are the cause of early disability, for example the association of depression with binge eating disorder, especially carbohydrates, which leads to obesity , which makes it appear larger than peers, as well as its organic risks such as increased cholesterol, hardening of the arteries, as well as smoking and the bad role it plays in losing the youthfulness of skin and making it look older.
In addition, the sleep pattern changes for fewer hours and the resulting physical exhaustion, which leads to poor memory and poor concentration. In addition, poor psychological condition leads to weak body immunity in general and exposes it to various infections, which shortens the lifespan of different cells in the body.
The study advised signing a medical exam on children from a psychological point of view and what is similar to (psychiatric screening) to find out which children are most vulnerable to mental illness or who already suffer from psychological disorders, but fear or lack of awareness prevents them from disclosing them, especially children who are exposed to attacks from family members or peers, whether physical or sexual assault and encouraging them to speak out, as well as children who are most vulnerable to bullying because of their appearance (body type, skin color or manifest birth defect) and psychological treatment, as early treatment is the guarantee of a healthy psychological life. adulthood, its influence extends to the whole of society.

Pediatrician consultant