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Adults who were abused as children think about suicide more often than those ho were not abused and researchers have found a correlation between thoughts of suicide and epileptic-type brain abnormalities (Crombie, 2003). Teicher says the correlation is greater than that between suicide and depression. Teicher and his colleagues are looking at whether childhood abuse and the response of abused children to stress affects the brain in such a way that it is modified to cope better with stress and facilitate survival and reproductive success in a hostile environment. Teicher emphasizes the need to recognize childhood abuse early and remove the child to a protective environment because the younger the child, the more malleable the brain, so the sooner they can be placed in a secure environment, the greater the chance of diminishing the negative effects of the abuse on the developing brain.
Teicher believes the new antidepressant drugs, relaxation exercises and psychotherapy may counteract the cascade of stress hormones released by abuse (Crombie, 2
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