Childhood trauma can lead to recurrent depression in adulthood: Psychiatrists

Childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for an unfavourable course of disease in major depressive disorder, say psychiatrists. Both maltreatment and major depressive disorder are associated with similar brain structural changes.

The study that included 110 patients aged between 18-60 years, who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder and were receiving inpatient treatment, analysed the link between maltreatment received as children and depression in adulthood. The MRI scan images of people revealed reductions in the surface area of the insular cortex, which is the part of the brain that regulates emotion. The participants who underwent maltreatment during their childhood were reported to have scarring of the brain. The emotional awareness of the brain was found to be affected due to change that makes the participants vulnerable to relapse of depression. The study revealed that facing trauma in childhood can change the structure of the brain causing severe depression and relapse in adulthood.

The lead author of the study Nils Opel said, “Given the impact of the insular cortex on brain functions such as emotional awareness, it is possible that the changes we saw make patients less responsive to conventional treatments,” said lead researcher Nils Opel from the University of Munster in Germany. Early life stress has a detrimental effect on brain structure, which increases the risk of unfavourable disease courses in major depression, say doctors.

“Adverse childhood experiences like abuse, trauma or neglect leaves an everlasting imprint on the child through epigenetic changes, structural changes in the growing brain which can make them vulnerable to biochemical imbalances on exposure to stress or an emotional situation. These situations could be the reason for association with increased incidence of depression, anxiety, substance abuse disorders even in adulthood,” said Dr Vivian Kapil, psychiatrist, SIMS Hospital.