According to HealthSCOUT, women who suffer physical and or sexual abuse as young girls may carry the scars of that trauma into adulthood as a sever oversensitivity to stress. An early history of frequent abuse produces much sharper hormonal and physical responses to mildly stressful events later in life, according to a new study by Georgia researchers. The findings suggest that the brain patterns laid during childhood trauma persist long after the trauma has ceased.

Submitted on: 08/01/00