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PSYCHIATRIC COMPLICATIONS OF THERAPEUTIC ABORTION

From the Department of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine Los Angeles, Calif 90024.

During the past decade, psychiatrists have undergone a gradual change of opinion regarding the psychiatric complications of induced abortions. A myth of serious emotional sequellae believed prior to that time was exploded by the reevaluation of the older reports and the undertaking of new studies. Most normal women were found to react to abortions with mild feelings of depression without serious after affects. Most women who were psychiatrically ill were found to respond with improved mental attitudes. Some were found to respond with increased symptoms. No study has been able to determine in advance which women will react adversely to pregnancy and which to abortion. At present, there is no evidence to suggest that the risk of psychiatric complications in induced abortions constitutes a contraindication to the procedure in either normal or psychiatrically ill women.