Posted on 03/07/2008 10:32:49 AM PST by blam
Mother-daughter Conflict, Low Serotonin Level May Be Deadly Combination
ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2008) — A combination of negative mother-daughter relationships and low blood levels of serotonin, an important brain chemical for mood stability, may be lethal for adolescent girls, leaving them vulnerable to engage in self-harming behaviors such as cutting themselves.
New University of Washington research indicates that these two factors in combination account for 64 percent of the difference among adolescents, primarily girls, who engage in self-harming behaviors and those who do not.
"Girls who engage in self harm are at high risk for attempting suicide, and some of them are dying," said Theodore Beauchaine, a UW associate professor of psychology and co-author of a new study. "There is no better predictor of suicide than previous suicide attempts."
The paper, co-authored by Sheila Crowell, one of his doctoral students, appeared recently in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Beauchaine said the relationship between the level of mother-daughter conflict and self-harming behavior was not strong. There was a stronger relationship between serotonin levels and self-harming behavior. But when both factors were considered together, the relationship to self-harming behaviors was very strong.
"Most people think in terms of biology or environment rather than biology and environment working together," he said. "Having a low level of serotonin is a biological vulnerability for self-harming behavior and that vulnerability increases remarkably when it is paired with maternal conflict."
To understand this relationship, the researchers recruited 20 adolescents with a history of self-harming behavior and 21 age-matched adolescents who did not harm themselves. Adolescents were considered self-injuring if they had harmed themselves three or more times in the past six months or five or more times in their lifetimes. The mean age of both groups was 15 years and the participants were predominantly white. There were two boys in each group.
Each mother and child separately filled out behavioral questionnaires that examined the adolescent's mental health and self-injurious behaviors, and one that identified areas of conflict between parents and teenagers. To assess negativity in each parent-child relationship, the researchers selected a topic that both parties said was a serious issue. Crowell said that doing chores at home was the most common area of conflict. Then each mother and child were asked to discuss a specific problem topic for 10 minutes. The discussion was taped and the interaction was later coded. After the discussion small amounts of blood were drawn from the adolescents to assess their serotonin level.
"You would think that they would be civil to each other in this kind of situation, but many of these topics were hot and within five minutes some of our subjects were arguing with each other," Beauchaine said.
He said most of the teenage participants in the study were girls because self-inflicted injuries are far more common among girls. Mothers, rather than fathers, were chosen because research has shown that the relationship between girls and mothers is usually closer than it is between daughters and fathers.
Beauchaine believes finding the underlying causes of self-inflicted injuries and developing prevention programs should be a national priority because self-harming behavior can lead to suicide which is a leading cause of death among American adolescents and young adults.
"Once self-harming behavior starts it is difficult to stop. Over time, with something such as cutting, children's bodies react to it in a way that helps reduce biological and psychological pain. They essentially become addicted to this behavior. So you want to prevent this behavior before it starts," he said.
The National Institute of Mental Health, Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and the National Foundation for Suicide Prevention funded the research. Co-authors of the study are Elizabeth McCauley, UW professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; Christina Vasilev, former UW undergraduate student who is now a research study coordinator at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle; Adrianne Stevens, a UW psychology doctoral student; and Dr. Cindy Smith, formerly with Trillium Family Services.
Adapted from materials provided by University Of Washington.
I did notice within approx. 4 days because I was screaming at my kids for the smallest of things, and I just stopped and thought, "What the hell is wrong with me? They are just being kids for cripes sake!" That's when I put two and two together and started to become very aware of my anger and mood swings.
I use medicinal Scotch to help with seasonal depression.
If I knew then what I know now I would have recommended to the Dr. a more beneficial use of that stuff and it would have been in suppository form too!
>>it would have been in suppository form too!<<
LOLOLOL!!!
Try adding one of these in the light by your computer. Like all day....
http://www.buylightfixtures.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=149
They are cheap and they do work.
I would turn into a bear by this time of year. I bought a two hundred dollar light box that worked great (then my boss put his foot through it by mistake!)
I found these, they were cheap and worked just as well.
LOVE them!
>>They never mention eating disorders etc <<
That’s how I started to do my research.
When my hair started falling out, etc. but I felt GREAT.
If your hair starts falling out be sure to check your calcium levels and thyroid. And vitamin D is needed to help absorb/use the calcium.
Chocolate! Feed them chocolate!!
That wasn’t my problem. I was taking ballet in college and stopped all nutrition except SlimFast once a day. For about six months.
Blam, both you and I read history, there was a reason that they Married off Daughters at 14.
And sleep is very important.
Remove all caffienated beverages from the house, don't allow her to drink caf. bev. away from home, particularly after noon, don't allow her to be on the computer or telephone late at night, get her some regular strenuous aerobic exercise, make sure she has room-darkening shades, etc.
Both of you will sleep much better.
Lots of money being made on this stuff and it is being given out too easily IMHO. Severe cases yes, a one time prescription with a single 4 week follow up in 2 years like me, no. Now that I know the downside to it first hand I will be glad if someone pushes for a honest and neutral investigation into the side effects and abuses of the stuff.
People don’t understand about these meds. And when the companies themselves are making up disorders (social anxiety disorder for example) to have treated with Paxil, we are in big trouble.
Not a good idea to screw with brain chemicals, I will tell you.
But some pharmaceutical companies have pushed the use of SSRIs for a broad spectrum that should not be treated with meds.
Shining example here of that. They also put me on Ritalin in combination with the first drugs they tried me on, some adults find it has the same effects as it does for hyper kids, but it was the opposite for me. Great diet pills, had plenty of get-up-and-go during the day but I told them I couldn't sleep when I took them.
Besides, I didn't want anything that had a higher street value than my truck when I was getting my 3 month supply from my insurance's on line pharmacy mailed to me and sitting in my mailbox.
All I can say is for about six or seven weeks it has been VERY interesting to me. I may not understand all the Latin and medical jargon but I sure as hell know what I am feeling! (And no, I am not a DUmmie in disguise either lol!)
If you think you're still having withdrawal symptoms that bother you, you may want to ask your doc to use Prozac, its generic name is fluoxetine, to relieve the symptoms, and then start a tapering schedule to get weaned off it. Fluoxetine has the longest halflife of all the SSRIs, i.e. it takes longer for your body to eliminate it, so it's the preferred SSRI for weaning.
My nephew stopped cold turkey and started suffering with terrible stomach problems. He couldn’t keep any food down. He lost a ton of weight before he found a psychologist who had suffered the same thing. He had been on ritalin since he was a little kid, then when he was in high school the doctors added zoloft because they said that he was very stressed. When he graduated from college, he decided, no more and just stopped.
” I use medicinal Scotch to help with seasonal depression.”
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Me, too. I’ve noticed it works all four seasons!
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