Adolescents are known to have increased emotional reactions to most of their experiences in life, and stress may enhance that reactivity, increasing their vulnerability to several mental health disorders in the long run, including PTSD.
An important hormone that is implicated in stress-related mental disorder development would be the hormone ghrelin, which is normally related to appetite, but in this case, has various other effects. For example, blood tests revealed that circulating ghrelin levels in trauma-affected children were around twice those of those not exposed to trauma.
Based on interviews with children and their parents, children who were exposed to trauma early in life had differences in their sleep, emotional regulation and social isolation, compared with those who were not. And while all participants had a body mass index (BMI) within the normal range, the BMIs of trauma-exposed children were significantly lower.
With the above effects of early stress exposure shown, the ability to identify individuals who are more vulnerable to the detrimental effects of stress, as well as the ‘tipping point’ when they become vulnerable, could allow for early interventions with therapy or medication.
Category(s):Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Trauma / Complex PTSD
Source material from Science Daily
