Tiana Sakr
Getting the facts to help women make an informed decision in pregnancy.
Emotional Effects After Abortion
- Font size: Larger Smaller
- Hits: 17108
- 328 Comments
- Bookmark
I feel concerned about women after abortion, particularly after hearing very emotional and negative experiences from women. I looked at a review on mental health and abortion by the American Psychological Association's Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. Overall, their conclusions seem to reflect how women are usually coping and getting on with their lives. But surprisingly, this important review failed to conclude on the risks of emotional effects after abortion and effects on the general mental health of women.
The 2008 American Psychological Association's - APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion (TFMHA) reviewed 223 USA and International studies published in peer-reviewed journals from 1990-2007 and gave its findings in a 100 page report.1 Firstly, the TFMHA defines "mental health" using the World Health Organisation's (WHO) definition of mental health as: "a state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community." All the women I know appear to satisfy this definition of "mental health" after abortion.
Then the TFMHA explains that the question of whether abortion causes harm to women's health cannot be scientifically tested. This would require randomised trials where pregnant women are assigned to an abortion verses delivery verses adoption group and this is obviously not desirable nor ethical. So the (testable) questions addressed by the TFMHA were how prevalent are mental health problems among women in the U.S. who have had an abortion and what is the relative risk of mental health problems after abortion compared to alternatives (adoption or motherhood).
The TFMHA specifies mental health problems for an important reason - it emphasises that "mental health problems" are defined as "clinically significant disorders assessed with valid and reliable measure of physician diagnosis." Examples include, major depression, anxiety disorders or postraumatic stress disorders. Excluded from the definition of mental health problems are 'normal' negative emotions or feelings a woman might experience after an abortion and as the TFMHA states, these include regret, sadness or dysphoria.2 "Dysphoria" (psychiatry) means: a "state of unease or generalised dissatisfaction with life", or "an emotional state characterised by anxiety, depression or unease."3
So the TFMHA review on mental health and abortion was largely limited to drawing conclusions on mental health problems after abortion where mental health problems are clinically diagnosed mental disorders in women. Although the TFMHA did review papers that analysed relative mental risks (i.e. including emotional effects) associated with abortion, it rejected all the studies as being unable to provide unequivocal evidence on these, due to "methodological flaws".
The conclusion of the TFMHA was, "the most methodologically sound research indicates that among women who have a single, legal, first-trimester abortion of an unplanned pregnancy for nontherapeutic reasons, the relative risks of mental health problems is no greater than the risks among women who deliver an unplanned pregnancy".
Not surprisingly, this conclusion seems to reflect the women after abortion I know - they had a single, legal, early abortion and seem to be doing fine as capable and successful women without any psychological disorders. However these women have experienced a very deep and personal, ongoing sadness and regret after abortion. These significant adverse effects on the psychological well-being of women after abortion were not well-addressed by the TFMHA because it would not use studies that included evidence on emotional effects to make a conclusion.
The TFMHA gave a conclusion of the relative risk of "mental health problems", i.e. mental health disorders only: their conclusion does not address concerns about the relative risk of abortion on the general mental health of women, including adverse emotional effects. As I discuss in "Planned Parenthood's Misleading Claims on Mental Health and Abortion", unfortunately abortion providers and services, such as Planned Parenthood and government websites in Australia and the U.S. ignore this narrow conclusion of the TFMHA and instead use it to make claims that abortion does not cause emotional effects. This is very misleading to women considering abortion and fails to acknowledge the women who do suffer adverse affects and are in need of care and support from their health care providers and communities.
Are you suffering emotional effects after abortion? You can find help in your area using our online directory or guide or call now:
24 Hr Helpline: 1800 090 777 (Aus)
or
24 Hr International Helpline:
866 482 5433 (USA)
(exit code) 1 866 483 5433 (Intl)
1 TFMHA - Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion (2008). Report of the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. Washington, DC. American Psychological Association Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/mental-health.pdf
2 TFMHA. 2008. Report of the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. Washington, DC. American Psychological
Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion. http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/abortion/mental-health.pdf
p.7. "..it is crucial to distinguish between clinically significant mental disorders, such as major depression,
generalised anxiety disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder, and a normal range of negative emotions or feelings
one might experience following a difficult decision, such as feelings of regret, sadness or dysphoria. While the latter
feelings may be significant, by themselves they do not constitute psychopathology."
3 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dysphoria
Comments
-
Monday, 10 June 2019That's why a good idea is that you must correlated go through earlier than establishing. You can easily print significantly better put in with this. golf academy
-
Tuesday, 25 June 2019
I read your blog entry and this is decent blog entry.. much obliged for setting aside the effort to impart to us. have a decent day buy dissertation UK
-
Monday, 01 July 2019
I like models private text. It can be really good to seek out a person demonstrate around thoughts within the main and perhaps wholesomeness in such a special vitally important market might be effortlessly expert. Mississippi Local Guide
-
Tuesday, 09 July 2019
There are many dissertation web sites on-line as you furthermore acquire simply said within your internet site. godzilla 2 full movie in hindi
-
Thursday, 11 July 2019
Wow, this is fascinating reading. I am glad I found this and got to read it. Great job on this content. I liked it a lot. Thanks for the great and unique info. rv altitude showflat
-
Saturday, 13 July 2019
That is great submit and also i spend time you just read this kind of submit. your blog will be great and you also have got excellent employees within your website. great revealing keep it up. Capital Gains Tax Advice
-
Monday, 15 July 2019
Thanks for the nice blog. It was very useful for me. I'm happy I found this blog. Thank you for sharing with us,I too always learn something new from your post. 사설토토
-
Thursday, 25 July 2019
Wow, this is fascinating reading. I am glad I found this and got to read it. Great job on this content. I liked it a lot. Thanks for the great and unique info. Top Business Directory
-
Thursday, 01 August 2019
I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work. Buying guide for lift up top coffee tables
-
Thursday, 01 August 2019
I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work. sistem sekolah malaysia
-
Thursday, 01 August 2019
Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post. best l shaped desk
-
Thursday, 01 August 2019
You know your projects stand out of the herd. There is something special about them. It seems to me all of them are really brilliant! voir la casa de papel
-
Thursday, 01 August 2019
I wish more authors of this type of content would take the time you did to research and write so well. I am very impressed with your vision and insight. dewa poker
-
Monday, 26 August 2019
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info. the scrambler
-
Friday, 30 August 2019
The software says exclusively relevant. Each of reduced attributes happen to be formulated with various capture certification. I like the application many. poker online terpercaya
-
Friday, 13 September 2019
The post is written in very a good manner and it contains many useful information for me.
https://braun.money/ -
Saturday, 14 September 2019
We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. I was exactly searching for. Thanks for such post and please keep it up. Great work.
Ensenada -
Saturday, 14 September 2019
I like to recommend every subject material. It is often excellent to clear up you are going to demonstrate around thoughts out of mid but also image quality making use of this priceless subject material is rather easily accepted. pannolini on line
-
Sunday, 15 September 2019
The post is written in very a good manner and it contains many useful information for me.
techexclusive.net
That's in addition a great publish which i really valued learning. It's not every day that people maintain the opportunity to discover something. www.cindynics.org/