A systematic review of 14 meta-analyses found strong evidence that psychological trauma increases one’s risk of mental disorder by nearly three-fold. The findings were published in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.

Psychological trauma is when a harmful event provokes long-term negative consequences on a person’s mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual health. Such trauma can result from adverse life events like witnessing a natural disaster or losing a loved one, or from suffering physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual abuse.