Abortion and mental health

Articles related to
Pregnancy and mental health
Overview

Scientific and medical expert bodies have repeatedly concluded that abortion poses no greater mental health risks than carrying an unintended pregnancy to term.[1][2][3] Nevertheless, the relationship between induced abortion and mental health is an area of political controversy.[4][5] In 2008, the American Psychological Association concluded after a review of available evidence that induced abortion did not increase the risk of mental-health problems. In 2011, the U.K. National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health similarly concluded that first-time abortion in the first trimester does not increase the risk of mental-health problems compared with bringing the pregnancy to term.[3][6] In 2018, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that abortion does not lead to depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.[1] The U.K. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists likewise summarized the evidence by finding that abortion did not increase the risk of mental-health problems compared to women carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term.[7] Two studies conducted on the Danish population in 2011 and 2012 analysed the association between abortion and psychiatric admission found no increase in admissions after an abortion. The same study, in fact, found an increase in psychiatric admission after first child-birth.[8] A 2008 systematic review of the medical literature on abortion and mental health found that high-quality studies consistently showed few or no mental-health consequences of abortion, while poor-quality studies were more likely to report negative consequences.[9]

Despite the weight of scientific and medical opinion, some anti-abortion advocacy groups have continued to allege a link between abortion and mental-health problems.[10] Some anti-abortion groups have used the term "post-abortion syndrome" to refer to negative psychological effects which they attribute to abortion. However, "post-abortion syndrome" is not recognized as an actual syndrome by the mainstream medical community.[11][12] Post-abortion syndrome (PAS) is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR[13] or in the ICD-10 list of psychiatric conditions.[14] Medical professionals and pro-choice advocates have argued that the effort to popularize the idea of a "post-abortion syndrome" is a tactic used by anti-abortion advocates for political purposes.[4][10][15][16] Some U.S. state legislatures have mandated that patients be told that abortion increases their risk of depression and suicide, despite the scientific evidence contradicting such claims.[9][17]

  1. ^ a b National Academies Of Sciences, Engineering; Health Medicine, Division; Board on Health Care Services; Board on Population Health Public Health Practice (2018). The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States : Health and Medicine Division. doi:10.17226/24950. ISBN 978-0-309-46818-3. PMID 29897702. Retrieved 2019-10-01. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Major, B; Appelbaum, M; Beckman, L; Dutton, MA; Russo, NF; West, C (2008). Report of the APA Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion (PDF). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 4–5, 11–12.
  3. ^ a b "Induced Abortion and Mental Health: A systematic review of the evidence". National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health. December 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2012.
  4. ^ a b Bazelon, Emily (21 January 2007). "Is There a Post-Abortion Syndrome?". The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  5. ^ "Post-Abortion Politics". NOW with David Brancaccio. PBS. 20 July 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
  6. ^ Dreaper, Jane (December 9, 2011). "Abortion 'does not raise' mental health risk". BBC. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  7. ^ "The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion" (PDF). Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Women with an unintended pregnancy should be informed that the evidence suggests that they are no more or less likely to suffer adverse psychological sequelae whether they have an abortion or continue with the pregnancy and have the baby.
  8. ^ Steinberg, Julia R.; Laursen, Thomas M.; Adler, Nancy E.; Gasse, Christiane; Agerbo, Esben; Munk-Olsen, Trine (2018-08-01). "Examining the Association of Antidepressant Prescriptions With First Abortion and First Childbirth". JAMA Psychiatry. 75 (8): 828–834. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.0849. ISSN 2168-622X. PMC 6143090. PMID 29847626.
  9. ^ a b Charles VE, Polis CB, Sridhara SK, Blum RW (2008). "Abortion and long-term mental health outcomes: a systematic review of the evidence". Contraception. 78 (6): 436–50. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2008.07.005. PMID 19014789.
  10. ^ a b Stotland NL (2003). "Abortion and psychiatric practice". J Psychiatr Pract. 9 (2): 139–49. doi:10.1097/00131746-200303000-00005. PMID 15985924. S2CID 37575499. "Currently, there are active attempts to convince the public and women considering abortion that abortion frequently has negative psychiatric consequences. This assertion is not borne out by the literature: the vast majority of women tolerate abortion without psychiatric sequelae."
  11. ^ Cohen, Susan A. (2006). "Abortion and Mental Health: Myths and Realities". Guttmacher Policy Review. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Q&A: Abortion and mental health". Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  13. ^ American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition: DSM-IV-TR. American Psychiatric Pub. ISBN 978-0-89042-025-6.
  14. ^ "ICD-10 Version:2016".
  15. ^ Mooney, Chris (October 2004). "Research and Destroy: How the religious right promotes its own 'experts' to combat mainstream science". Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008.
  16. ^ Stotland NL (October 1992). "The myth of the abortion trauma syndrome". JAMA. 268 (15): 2078–9. doi:10.1001/jama.268.15.2078. PMID 1404747.
  17. ^ Lazzarini Z (November 2008). "South Dakota's Abortion Script – Threatening the Physician-Patient Relationship". N. Engl. J. Med. 359 (21): 2189–2191. doi:10.1056/NEJMp0806742. PMID 19020321. The purported increased risks of psychological distress, depression, and suicide that physicians are required to warn women about are not supported by the bulk of the scientific literature. By requiring physicians to deliver such misinformation and discouraging them from providing alternative accurate information, the statute forces physicians to violate their obligation to solicit truly informed consent.