Early Life Experiences

Before starting the psychiatry module, I had very little understanding of the extent to which our early life experiences can impact on our mental health as adults. My personal belief was that mental illness as an adult was the result of a genetic or biological predisposition that emerged as a result of a stress or adversity in adulthood. However, epidemiological research suggests that the onset of psychiatric disorders in up to one third of cases may be attributable to adverse early life experiences1. Taking this into account, it raises the questions; do both positive and negative early life experiences affect our mental health as adults? If so, how do they do so? And what does this mean for our society as a whole?

The question of what exactly

Read et al3 describe that in the past, the effects of childhood abuse on mental health was largely underestimated3. Looking at the literature that exists today, there have been numerous studies on how childhood adversities affect adult mental health. I feel one such study that highlights the global extent of the issue was a study carried out by the WHO in 20104. This was aimed at investigating the correlation between mental health and childhood adversities across 21 different countries4. It assessed over 50,000 adults from different social and cultural backgrounds4. Their data showed, that childhood adversities were responsible for 29.8% of all disorders across the countries4. They concluded “Childhood adversities have strong associations with all classes of disorders at all life-course stages in all groups of WMH countries.”4 This evidence is mirrored in many similar studies. To me it is very striking and highlights the close relationship between our early life experiences and adult mental

I met middle age man, who was suffering from severe depression. When talking about his life, he divulged that at a young age his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Over the following 4 years, he watched his mother struggle to beat the disease before finally passing away. In his grief, he had sought the help and guidance from a clergy member who was a family friend throughout his mother’s illness. However, instead of being a figure of support, this clergyman sexually abused the boy throughout his teenage years. As a result of these adversities, he turned to alcohol and drugs and dropped out of school. When questioned, he believed without doubt that his current illness was the direct effect of his troubled childhood. He explains he has never fully recovered from the death of his mother and he has struggled to develop any trusting relationships in his