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The consequences of maternal overdoses on children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. T. Lax-Pericall  and
A. Cox
M. T. Lax-Pericall*
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child and Family Consultation Centre, 1 Wolverton Gardens, London W6 7DQ; and A
A. Cox
Affiliation:
Guy's and St Thomas's Medical and Dental School Bloomfield Clinic, Guy's Hospital, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RT
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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The children of women who take overdoses may suffer due to the same factors that predispose to the overdose, to witnessing the event and the immediate and long-term consequences of it. We examined what arrangements had been made for the children of 21 women admitted to hospital after an overdose, and enquired into the explanation that the mother planned to give the children. Children of mothers with psychiatric disorder were more likely to have witnessed the overdose. Mothers preferred that the children did not know about the overdose. The importance of this for the psychological development of the children is discussed.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 20 , Issue 11 , November 1996 , pp. 648 - 650
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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