The effect of childhood stress on the development of mental disorders in adults

Abstract

There is evidence that not only severe stressful events, but also common low-threat events, in particular chronic ones, may cause or provoke some mental disorders. The literature data on the degree of pathogenicity of stress factors are insufficient. Authors attempted to summarize the established facts in the following aspects: current conceptions on the physiology and pathology of stress in the frames of the problem of psychosomatic disorders, deprivation in childhood, neurobiological consequences of childhood stress, psychiatric consequences of stress in childhood. Authors believe that this problem demands further investigation to find possible predictors of mental disorders in patients who had experienced stressful life events in childhood.