Traumatic experiences (such as dropping out of school) are especially painful when your life ends

Repeating a school year or experiencing parental abuse can exacerbate end-of-life pain, depression and isolation.

Unfortunately, many people experience difficult events in their lives. Consider physical or emotional abuse, loss of a loved one, serious illness, accidents, natural disasters and violence or war. Such hardships have a profound effect on the mind and body and can last even into the last months of a person’s life, shows a new study Onward.

The last stage of life
We know that trauma can have lasting effects. “Traumatic experiences from childhood can have lifelong effects,” says researcher Ashwin Kotwal. “They can contribute to social and emotional isolation, unhealthy habits and an increased risk of later trauma.” “We found that early-life trauma is closely related to late-life pain, loneliness and depressive symptoms,” Kotwal said.

Do an investigation
These results are from the Health and Retirement Studywhich followed approximately 6,500 Americans over the age of 50 who died between 2006 and 2020. The participants completed a questionnaire about their experiences with eleven stressful events and their psychosocial well-being. They were interviewed every two years until they died, which occurred on average at age 78. A final interview with a family member or friend provided information about symptoms in their senior year.

Under the skin
The findings show that traumatic experiences increase pain, depression and loneliness at the end of life. “Trauma gets ‘under your skin,'” says researcher Kate Ducowny. “We know that trauma is linked to depression and anxiety, which can lead to a pro-inflammatory environment associated with chronic conditions. Chronic stress can lead to inflammation and adverse health effects later in life. “

Recap of the school year
The researchers found that 2 out of 5 participants had had difficult experiences in childhood, such as trouble with the police and exposure to drug or alcohol abuse in the family. The most common traumatic experience in childhood was repeating a school year. This shows that ‘staying put’ leaves a lasting impression. In adults, the most common causes of trauma were a life-threatening illness or a partner or child with a life-threatening illness. Less common traumas included the death of a child, an addicted partner, surviving a natural disaster or being involved in armed conflict. More than 80 percent of participants had experienced at least one trauma in their lifetime, and 1 in 3 had experienced at least three.

The numbers
The results are amazing. The participants who had not experienced trauma were less likely to experience pain or loneliness in the final stages of life. Specifically, they had a 46 percent chance of moderate to severe pain and a 12 percent chance of loneliness. For those who had experienced at least five traumatic events, those percentages were 60 percent and 22 percent, respectively. In addition, participants who had not experienced trauma suffered less from depression. They had a 24 percent chance of depression at the end of their lives, and this rate rose to up to 40 percent for those who experienced five or more traumatic events.

Health care providers
According to the researchers, these findings emphasize that health care providers should consider the consequences of accumulated problems when treating patients in their last years. “What this teaches us as health care providers is that we need to look at the needs of patients from a difficult perspective,” Kotwal says. “As people get closer to the end of their lives, they can experience ‘holistic pain’ – pain that can be both mental and emotional, as well as pain from physical causes. Lifelong traumas can affect this overall pain experience. Seeking help from a psychologist, mental health professional or social worker may be the most effective way to ease this pain.”

The study highlights the importance of understanding the impact of past trauma on the health and well-being of people in their final stages of life. “We now understand that patient suffering is not just a symptom of disease, but also the constant anxiety and stress that comes from feeling out of control,” said co-author Chelsea K. Brown. “If someone has also experienced a traumatic event, losing control can bring them back to previous painful experiences. And it’s difficult to revive this in so many ways.”