AUSTRALIA
The Age
May 25, 2015
Jane Lee
Legal Affairs Reporter for The Age
People who have been abused as children live shorter lives than those who have not been abused, a psychiatrist has told a royal commission.
Dr Carolyn Quadrio, from the UNSW School of Psychiatry, said on Monday that children who have been abused have a life expectancy about 10 to 20 years shorter than those who have not.
“They don’t live as long as children who have not been traumatised,” she told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Ballarat.
Trauma produced both physical and psychological damage, affecting children’s development, including their personalities and sense of self.
Children’s brains and immune systems were also affected, making them more prone to a range of auto-immune diseases.
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