In brief: Mental illness and the death of a child
In brief
The loss of a child is one of the most severe forms of stress, on a par with the death of a husband or wife or the loss of a parent in childhood. A large survey based on Danish records shows that for some, it can lead to psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers studied the records of more than a million people during a 30-year period and found 20,000 first psychiatric hospital admissions. The death of a child under age 18 raised the risk of psychiatric hospitalization by 78% in mothers and 38% in fathers. For depression, the most common cause of hospitalization, the excess was 91% for women and 61% for men. Parents were also more likely to be hospitalized for schizophrenia and substance abuse after a child’s death.
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