Science > Abortion > Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress
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Science > Abortion |
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"osprey" |
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13 Dec 2005 12:41:59 AM |
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Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
Monday, December 12, 2005
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD
Miscarriage and abortion are both stressful events, but a study from
Norway suggests that abortion may be associated with more long-term
psychological distress.
Researchers interviewed 40 women who had miscarriages and 80 women who
had abortions and followed them for five years.
Women who had miscarriages suffered more anxiety and depression
immediately after the event and six months later. But abortion was
associated with more stress and anxiety two years -- and even five
years -- after the event.
"The women who had miscarriages were often psychologically
traumatized for several months," researcher Anne Nordal Broen, MD,
tells WebMD. "Nightmares and flashbacks were not uncommon, but within
half a year most of these mental responses were over and they were
managing well."
Abortion and Depression: Is There a Link?
Guilt, Shame Greater
Women who had abortions had fewer problems early on, and Broen says
their long-term issues did not approach the level of trauma. But these
women were also twice as likely to feel guilt about the event five
years later and 60 percent more likely to feel shame, as measured by
psychological testing.
At five years, both groups had few intrusive thoughts about the event.
But the women who had abortions were seven times as likely to report
that they actively avoided thinking about it.
When compared with the general population, women who had abortions had
higher anxiety scores at all measured time points -- from 10 days after
the pregnancy termination to five years later. Women who had
miscarriages had higher than normal anxiety scores at only one of the
measured time points -- 10 days after their pregnancy ended.
The findings are published in the December issue of the journal BMC
Medicine.
Broen says it is not clear from the study if having an abortion
contributed to the higher anxiety scores or if the women who had
abortions were more anxious to begin with.
"These women may have had poorer psychiatric health, which would make
them more vulnerable," she says. "But it may also be that they
didn't allow themselves to think about the event and deal with it,
and that this contributed to their distress."
The researchers write that only about half of the women who were asked
to be included in the study agreed to participate. There were also
notable differences between the two groups of women regarding marital
status, number of existing children, and employment, all of which could
contribute to the their findings.
Study Dispels Abortion-Breast Cancer Link
Debate Over Abortion Stress
The debate over the emotional impact of abortion is a contentious one,
with pro-choice and anti-abortion advocates not surprisingly having
very different views of the issue.
Some people contend that a form of posttraumatic stress is common among
women who have had elective abortions. But neither the American
Psychological Association nor the American Psychiatric Association
officially recognizes such a syndrome.
University of California, San Francisco psychiatry professor Nancy
Adler, PhD, conducted some of the first studies on the psychological
impact of abortion. She says it would be impossible to do a study that
definitively answered the question.
"You would have to assign women with unwanted pregnancies to either
have an abortion or give birth, and that would never happen," she
tells WebMD.
"There is no denying that the experience of unwanted pregnancy is
very stressful for most women, and so is the decision about what to do
about it. But we are not seeing evidence of long-term trauma at the
clinical level."
Yale University psychiatry professor Kimberly Yonkers, MD, agrees. She
points out that both groups in the study showed improvements over time
in most measures of psychological stress. She also expressed concerns
about the study's small sample size but said one of the study's
strengths was that it followed the women for so long.
"I don't think it is much of a surprise that there was residual
guilt and shame following the voluntary termination of a pregnancy,"
she says. "This is not the kind of thing that someone does and never
thinks about again. But I don't believe in postabortion syndrome
because I haven't seen it. And I don't think these data show it in
any way, shape or form."
Controversy Over Emergency Contraception Drug
By Salynn Boyles, reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
SOURCES: Broen, A.N. BMC Medicine, Dec. 12, 2005; vol 3; online
edition. Anne Nordal Broen, MD, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Nancy
Adler, PhD, professor and vice chairwoman, psychiatry, University of
California, San Francisco. Kimberly Yonkers, MD, associate professor,
department of psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.
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| User: "Gaia" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 01:53:14 AM |
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osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
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| User: "osprey" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 01:58:09 AM |
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Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
stop whining and lying about people and get on the issue.
Don't cry because you can't be successful in life. No wonder your
husband left you.
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| User: "The Chief Instigator" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 02:19:55 PM |
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"osprey" <noneedtoknow@mail.com> writes:
Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
stop whining and lying about people and get on the issue.
Don't cry because you can't be successful in life. No wonder your
husband left you.
....for work, right? (He was around before you came up with this fantasy,
yesterday.)
--
Patrick "The Chief Instigator" Humphrey (patrick@io.com) Houston, Texas
chiefinstigator.us.tt/aeros.php (TCI's 2005-06 Houston Aeros)
LAST GAME: Houston 4, Cleveland 1 (December 11)
NEXT GAME: Friday, December 16 vs. Peoria, 7:35
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| User: "Gaia" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 02:48:07 AM |
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Path:
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From: "osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.abortion
Subject: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress
Date: 12 Dec 2005 23:58:09 -0800
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osprey wrote:
Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
stop whining and lying about people...
The headers don't lie, and neither do I.
.
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| User: "osprey" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 05:21:04 AM |
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Gaia wrote:
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From: "osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.abortion
Subject: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress
Date: 12 Dec 2005 23:58:09 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 10
Message-ID: <1134460689.218540.84510@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
References: <1134456119.391427.142750@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
<1134460394.505287.196350@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
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osprey wrote:
Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
stop whining and lying about people...
The headers don't lie, and neither do I.
You just lied again.
Why did you run when you were asked to provide proof of your claim,
when you claimed I said something I never said?
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| User: "Gaia" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 05:48:23 AM |
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osprey wrote:
Gaia wrote:
Path:
g2news1.google.com!postnews.google.com!g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
From: "osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.abortion
Subject: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress
Date: 12 Dec 2005 23:58:09 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 10
Message-ID: <1134460689.218540.84510@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
References: <1134456119.391427.142750@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
<1134460394.505287.196350@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
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osprey wrote:
Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
stop whining and lying about people...
The headers don't lie, and neither do I.
You just lied again.
You're lying. The headers don't lie, and neither do I.
.
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| User: "Mimi Cohen" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 07:48:28 AM |
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Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
Gaia wrote:
Path:
g2news1.google.com!postnews.google.com!g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
From: "osprey" <noneedtok...@mail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.abortion
Subject: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress
Date: 12 Dec 2005 23:58:09 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Lines: 10
Message-ID: <1134460689.218540.84510@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
References: <1134456119.391427.142750@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
<1134460394.505287.196350@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
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osprey wrote:
Gaia wrote:
osprey wrote:
You're posting from work, again.
stop whining and lying about people...
The headers don't lie, and neither do I.
You just lied again.
You're lying. The headers don't lie, and neither do I.
We all know he's lying, every word that comes from him is a lie. What we
*DON'T* know is why, after lying so many times and being caught lying so
many times, he continues to lie. You know, the definition of crazy is
doing the same thing over and over expecting different outcomes :)
.
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?B?TKSk?=" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
13 Dec 2005 01:48:44 PM |
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"Mimi Cohen" <mimiNOSPAMgal@cox.net> wrote in message
news:HiAnf.1493$Ru.495@fed1read05...
We all know he's lying, every word that comes from him is a lie. What we
*DON'T* know is why, after lying so many times and being caught lying so
many times, he continues to lie. You know, the definition of crazy is
doing the same thing over and over expecting different outcomes :)
Maybe he's a pathological liar and can't help himself. They can't stop
lying. They even come to believe their own BS.
.
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| User: "Mimi Cohen" |
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| Title: Re: Having an Abortion Linked To Long-Term Anxiety, Stress |
14 Dec 2005 09:56:18 AM |
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L¤¤ wrote:
"Mimi Cohen" <mimiNOSPAMgal@cox.net> wrote in message
news:HiAnf.1493$Ru.495@fed1read05...
We all know he's lying, every word that comes from him is a lie. What
we *DON'T* know is why, after lying so many times and being caught
lying so many times, he continues to lie. You know, the definition of
crazy is doing the same thing over and over expecting different
outcomes :)
Maybe he's a pathological liar and can't help himself. They can't stop
lying. They even come to believe their own BS.
That possibility does exist, whatever the case; it must suck to be him :)
.
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