Study shows mom’s untreated depression can cause
psychological disorders in child.
In a new study by UT Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas, researchers say a depressed mother left untreated can trigger serious
psychological disorders in her children. The study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical association, reinforced what doctors deem common sense, but whose results could have significant health implications. Dr. John Rush, psychiatry professor at the center, said this is a very important study, and lead study author Myrna Weissman, says depressed mothers can be just the environmental factor that could induce psychological disorders in her children. Dr Madhukar Trivedi, the study’s co-author says better care for depressed mothers leads to better psychological benefits for her kids. About one in eight U.S. women will be found to have depression.
The antidepressant drug Celexa was used in the study and was provided by Forest Laboratories. But Dr. Weissmann believes that similar results would have occurred with a different drug. She also feels the study would have had the same outcome if men, instead of women had been used.
The study included 114 depressed women and 114 children, ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old. Of the 114 women, 38 of them went into remission during and after the test. 33 percent of the kids with
psychiatric problems at the onset of the study recovered when their mothers recovered and only 12 percent of the kids recovered among those whose mothers did not.
One interesting facet of the whole study was that 17 percent of the kids whose mothers did not recover were found to display some psychiatric problems by the time the study ended. Dr. Nada Stotland, vice president of the American Psychiatric Association, says the study reinforces a valuable admonishment for mothers – who face double the risk of men of having depression -- to take care of themselves.