I suppose it is a no brainer to say that someone who is maltreated as a child has a higher likelihood of being depressed as an adult. You may wonder why researchers would even spend their time looking into this. But the research that came out of this week focused on those who have hard to treat depression. The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The basics of the study, summarized by CBS news, is that maltreatment in childhood alters the course of depression and its treatment outcomes. People who were maltreated as children had higher rates of developing depressive episodes that were recurrent and persistent. These episodes were resistive to treatment and less likely to go into “remission”.
The point of research like this is to get an idea of what providers are facing when they receive clients. When our standard approaches to depression don’t work we can be at a loss as to what to do. Knowing that clients with certain histories can lead to treatment resistant depression is important for providers, but what does it mean if you are one of those who are experiencing depression that is not responding to treatment?
There are no easy answers to this, and the research was not about how to help these people. The general theory is that maltreatment during childhood can cause biological abnormalities in the brain, leading to resistive depression. Just having this knowledge is a step, but now the research needs to focus on what can be done. Obviously therapy is an important piece of processing the history that ties a person down, but medication may also be needed. To discover what medication, or combinations of medications, truly help those with treatment resistive depression will be a great step forward.
In the end, there is still a level of personal responsibility when it comes to depression and getting better. Seeking treatment in a timely manner, actively participating in therapy, and taking medications as prescribed are all keys to getting healthier. Knowing that you may be at a higher risk for treatment resistive depression only makes these things more important. Finally, if you are depressed and not getting better seek help right away.