Childhood Trauma Linked to Psychosis: Maybe Not
We often discuss the stressors that play a role in triggering bipolar disorder in adults who have a genetic susceptibility to it, but what about stressors in childhood?
Results of a study published in the January 2011 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry entitled “Childhood trauma and children’s emerging psychotic symptoms: A genetically sensitive longitudinal cohort study,” claim to show that childhood trauma from maltreatment and bullying is associated with children’s reports of psychotic symptoms.
While the report serves an important role in calling attention to the serious psychological and psychiatric damage that intentional abuse and bullying can cause, it also raises the question of what is and is not psychosis, especially in children.
