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Child sex
abuse hysteria and the Ellis case |
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The wisdom of
Gordon Waugh - Index |
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Dr John Read’s
"staggering findings" on his perceived relationship between sexual
abuse and psychotic disorders (October 26) are better described as
"tottering". It is generally
accepted that some psychotic disorders, particularly schizophrenia, result
from biological abnormalities. His so-called link declares an abysmal
ignorance of basic scientific tests. Theories must be testable, falsifiable,
capable of peer review, and have a known error rate. Association does not
prove causality. Proof is needed that
the 382 patients were in fact sexually abused, and that no other possible
cause of psychotic disorder exists. But, he says, poverty, loneliness, gender
and race could be factors. Dr Read implies that
parents of schizophrenics sexually abused their children. That is cruel,
heartless and offensive.
A leading John Read, a senior
lecturer in clinical psychology at Auckland University with more than 20
years' experience working with schizophrenia patients, has spent the past
year researching the condition and conducting his own New Zealand-based
research. From a review of 15
international studies Dr Read has found that 50% of female psychiatric
in-patients have been sexually abused as children and approximately
two-thirds have been either sexually or physically abused. Of the 767 in-patients
surveyed, 382 had been sexually abused. "Traditionally,
schizophrenia has been perceived as hereditary and mental health
professionals have looked for biological explanations," he said. "These staggering
findings suggest we can no longer deny the possibility of a causal link
between childhood trauma and supposedly biological/genetic illnesses such as
schizophrenia." Allen Fraser, a
consultant psychiatrist at "I do agree that
questioning a patient's history isn't done enough and that could be for a
number of reasons, but there are other factors involved," he said. "Sometimes if you
are admitting someone for the first time you don't know if they have been
asked about their past before, and you don't want to trigger any bad memories
so you don't ask." Dr Read said sexual
abuse was not the only cause of psychotic disorders. Other factors included
poverty, loneliness, homelessness, gender and race. Worldwide trends show
indigenous people are two or three times more likely to be diagnosed with
schizophrenia than the rest of the population. An She said psychiatrists
didn't listen. They told her son he was delusional when he became ill,
without asking him any questions about his troubled past. The woman believes bad
behaviour can be mistaken for schizophrenia and behaviour that often shows in
one's teenage years can be triggered by incidents such as teasing at school. "In my son's case
he was given medication as a solution. It tranquillised him on the outside
but he was boiling up inside," she said. "When someone is
diagnosed with cancer, the doctor sits down with the patient and discusses
the alternatives. But never with a psychotic disorder have we had a chance to
sit down and discuss my son's history and a plan of action." Dr Read said it was no
longer good enough for health professionals to look towards medication as a
solution for those with psychotic disorders. " Medication is a
short-term solution for people in a crisis but it doesn't address the origin.
"My research shows
it is now time for mental health professionals to ask about abuse and to be
ready when the answer is yes." Dr Fraser believes a
combination of medication and psycho-social work is the best way to help a
person suffering from a psychotic disorder. "It is accepted by
most people that sexual abuse is associated with psychotic disorders in later
life, but there must be something else going on. "It's like a study
in America in the '70s which showed that if you had two colour television
sets you had an increased chance of having a heart attack. Not many people
would say you could attribute televisions to heart attacks." Dr Read is studying the
cases of 100 New Zealanders suffering from psychotic disorders. About 1% of
our population suffers from some form of psychotic disorder. He expects to
have his research published early next year. The last New Zealand
study, conducted by a group of Otago University psychologists in 1993, showed
women whose sexual abuse as children involved genital contact were five times
more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital as adults than
non-abused women. Those whose abuse
involved intercourse were 16 times more likely to be admitted to a
psychiatric hospital. |
