ISSUES
Post-abortive mental health
What's going on?
Talk to any counsellor who’s worked with post-abortive women, and they’ll tell you that abortion can leave a lot of damage in its wake.
Last year, there were over 13,000 abortions performed in New Zealand. Some of the women who had these abortions will recover just fine and go on with their lives, but plenty of other women won’t. These women may become depressed and feel detached from their friends, families, and old lives. Some may experience such deep feelings of emptiness, anxiety, confusion, anger, or remorse that they consider or even attempt suicide.
Because no one currently systematically tracks or checks in with women following an abortion, we can’t say for certain how many women are suffering after having an abortion. But a 2008 study out of the University of Otago’s Christchurch Health and Development Study suggests that women who have an abortion face about a 30% increase in the risk of developing mental health problems – such as depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal behavior, and drug and alcohol abuse – versus women who have never had an abortion, and that this increase is associated with having the abortion.
Anecdotal evidence from counsellors indicates that women can experience mental health problems as a result of their abortions anywhere from immediately after the abortion to many years later.
Talk to any counsellor who’s worked with post-abortive women, and they’ll tell you that abortion can leave a lot of damage in its wake.
Last year, there were over 13,000 abortions performed in New Zealand. Some of the women who had these abortions will recover just fine and go on with their lives, but plenty of other women won’t. These women may become depressed and feel detached from their friends, families, and old lives. Some may experience such deep feelings of emptiness, anxiety, confusion, anger, or remorse that they consider or even attempt suicide.
Because no one currently systematically tracks or checks in with women following an abortion, we can’t say for certain how many women are suffering after having an abortion. But a 2008 study out of the University of Otago’s Christchurch Health and Development Study suggests that women who have an abortion face about a 30% increase in the risk of developing mental health problems – such as depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal behavior, and drug and alcohol abuse – versus women who have never had an abortion, and that this increase is associated with having the abortion.
Anecdotal evidence from counsellors indicates that women can experience mental health problems as a result of their abortions anywhere from immediately after the abortion to many years later.
Why should we care?
Women are hurting. Women know it. Counsellors know it. Some abortion providers may even know it. But no one’s talking about it. And no one’s doing anything about it.
We have the studies that show abortion’s association with mental health problems, and we can hear the stories of women who can tell us, first-hand, about the mental and emotional pain and anguish they’ve experienced as a result of their abortions.
We’re all concerned with addressing the mental health crisis. Here’s one area of that crisis that needs a light shone in its dark corners.
Women are hurting. Women know it. Counsellors know it. Some abortion providers may even know it. But no one’s talking about it. And no one’s doing anything about it.
We have the studies that show abortion’s association with mental health problems, and we can hear the stories of women who can tell us, first-hand, about the mental and emotional pain and anguish they’ve experienced as a result of their abortions.
We’re all concerned with addressing the mental health crisis. Here’s one area of that crisis that needs a light shone in its dark corners.
What can we do about it?
- Ensure every woman who has an abortion is provided with direct contact with a trained counsellor both before and after the abortion
- Improve the information about abortion and its potential consequences that is given to women considering having an abortion
- Invest more in NGOs and programmes that work with and support post-abortive women
For more information see: D M Fergusson et al, “Abortion and mental health disorders: evidence from a 30 year longitudinal study,” in The British Journal of Psychiatry (2008) 193: 444-451.
More things we need to address: |
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