[Mrs. Don-o]

I have read that pain --- severe, repeated, prolonged pain ---can affect anatomical (structural) brain development, as well as physiological response patterns, in the young, whose brains are still developing. And the effect can be lifelong.

Why some children are more resilient, and some more vulnerable, I do not know. Some abused children develop a multiple personality disorcdr, seemingly by "walling off" the memories which are unbearbale, and then constructing new personalities out of what's left. Some people evidently can develop a dozen distinct personalities.

Also called Dissociative Identity Disorder. Fascinating, in its way, and so sad.

[Sherman Logan]

Yes, very sad.

My point is not that some children are not permanently affected, with their lives largely permanently ruined; it was that many, perhaps most, are not.