Thursday, January 1, 2009

MENTAL COSTS OF LOSING A CHILD

WELL, IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE I WOULD END UP DOING A SPOT ON THIS SUBJECT.

I HAD READ THAT THERE WAS A 70% CHANCE OF THE MARRIAGE OF A COUPLE WHO HAD LOST A CHILD TO END IN DIVORCE - AND THAT A MARRIAGE THAT HAD TO DEAL WITH THE ISSUES OF BIPOLAR (MANIC/DEPRESSIVE) HAD A 90% MORTALITY RATE.

THERE IS ALOT OF INTERESTING STATS THAT I HAD NOT RUN ACROSS (BUT THAT ANECDOTALLY SPEAKING, I COULD AGREE WITH). THERE WILL BE ALOT MORE ON THIS TOPIC IN THE FUTURE AS TIME ALLOWS:

The death of a child can cause not only devastating grief, but later serious mental illness as well, researchers reported last week. The study of more than a million Danish parents showed that losing a child under the age of 18 raised the risk of serious mental crisis, requiring hospitalization, by 67 percent. And it takes five years for the risk to subside, the researchers reported in last week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Women were the most vulnerable, according to the study. Their chances of ending up in a psychiatric hospital for the first time increased 78 percent following a child's death. Fathers who lost a child had a 38 percent increased risk of being hospitalized for psychiatric illness. The team, led by Jiong Li of the University of Aarhus in Denmark, also found that the risks ''were highest during the first year after bereavement, remained significantly increased five years or more after the loss," and went down if the parents had more than one child. Previous studies have shown that losing a parent during childhood or losing a spouse also heightens the risk of mental illness.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2005/03/29/death_of_a_child_can_l

1 comment:

  1. My husband and I lost a child to suicide. He was diagnosed schizophrenic. But, I feel he was attacked by evil demons because of his pornography addiction. The combination of mental illness and self shame was more than my dear son could handle. What happened was a miracle. Jesus was kind enough to take him in his arms and bring him into the light of love and restore my son's glory and righteousness back unto him. For God knows the heart and the whole person. 5 years later, my husband and I are still married and we struggle but are determined to do the Lord's will. Life is short and I know I will see my son again soon.

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