Trauma is anything that overwhelms the brain’s ability to cope. As Peter Levine rightly said, it is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood and untreated cause of human suffering. It is simply unfortunate and sad how the impact and exposure of emotional trauma on children is mostly not even addressed, let alone treated.
As someone who has seen the profound impact of emotional trauma on children manifesting its ugly head in adulthood, I decided that this blog should be all about this.
Emotional trauma on children or any type of childhood trauma is not something one gets over when he/she grows up. Apart from the dramatic impact of trauma, there is also a high social cost to bear as a consequence of the child’s poor adjustment and dysfunction in the community. It can lead to an adulthood spent in survival mode, afraid to settle, afraid to dream ahead, to trust, to simply let oneself be happy.
When a child grows up witnessing or experiencing emotional trauma, it is highly likely that the signs are manifested in his/her behavior as an adult.
Children understand and make meaning out of what is happening to them and around them and create an internal map of how the world is. This helps them cope, but when there is no changing of this preconceived internal map which has strengthened with more beliefs over time, their whole manner of interpretation of the world and its working changes. They tend to watch the world through these tinted lenses and it blinds their ability to function normally as an adult.
PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF EMOTIONAL TRAUMA ON CHILDREN:
It is surprising how emotional trauma can manifest physically, and even biologically, that too after such long periods of time. One of the greatest trauma psychologists, who has also studied emotional trauma on children extensively, once said that the body keeps score. It holds memories that the conscious memory cannot recall, and these signs and symptoms are manifested physically in adults.
Studies have found that elevated levels of a protein called S1000B is seen in the brains of people who underwent intense emotional trauma. Spiked levels of this protein can cause many problems, majorly inflammation of the brain and consequent brain damages.
Another biological observation seen in people who faced emotional trauma as a child, is the highly elevated levels of stress hormone production. These can cause inflammation in various body parts and can have long lasting effects and also cause potentially fatal health issues.
PTSD(Post traumatic stress disorder) which is also seen as an aftermath of emotional trauma on children, can also increase cortisone and epinephrine production in the body which on the long run can lead to problems like obesity, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, heart ailments and so on.
It is also not a secret that emotional trauma on children or just any trauma, can push them over the ledge and cause people to fall into the pit of substance abuse and alcoholism as an unhealthy coping mechanism, which is again a separate can of worms that I will not open in this piece of writing.
The list does not end with the physical and biological consequences. The behavioral manifestations seen are as vicious as the other two if not more. The sheer amount of effect the trauma has, even after the passing of long periods of time is astonishing.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF EMOTIONAL TRAUMA:
Studies on victims of emotional trauma revealed that, such people have an itch or an attraction towards unhealthy relationships as an adult. The trauma, when untreated puts them into a loop of the past. They are often the same scared, traumatized kid stuck in the body of an adult, craving for any sense of love and security which lures them into toxic relationships. This quest for any sort of validation and love cause them to people please, over extend themselves, stay places longer than they ideally should. This again, does not help as it further leads to a new cycle of trauma, with new memories revoking the old hurt and the vicious cycle rolls all over again.
There are also instances where adults who have faced emotionally traumatic experiences as a child have a huge lack in social skills and a lack of desire for intimacy. Their broken self esteem which was never repaired is all for blame here. This leads them into distortions of feeling “too flawed” or “unworthy” to be a part of normal social interactions and relationships.
Extensive research into impact of emotional trauma on children has also revealed a set of behaviors and personas in such adults, which is as follows:
- The super ambitious overachiever who is always achieving it all but can never acknowledge their own progress.
- The people pleaser who says yes to everything to not upset anybody.
- The apparent strong adult who does not express his emotions or cry.
- The perfect child who sets extreme bodily standards and outward appearance to keep up the pretense under a mask.
- The caretaker who sets out to help anybody and everybody only to abandon their own self in the end.
If many of these points mentioned above is familiar to you or is seen in anyone you know, it is highly likely that he/she may have been a victim of trauma which was untreated in the past. And being a past victim to trauma is no cause for panic, for as the name itself suggests, it’s in the past. A past victim is a SURVIVOR in the present, and you are not choice-less.
Mark Manson once said, “Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the feeling of fear, the doubt, the insecurity, and the deciding that something else is more important”, and his words cannot be any truer. If you or anyone you know is stuck in this loop of vicious trauma do not hesitate to take the leap in asking for professional help. You are not alone, despite of how much you might believe to be. That one moment of bravery is all it takes and you will be eternally grateful to yourself for taking the plunge. It is high time one starts ‘living’ and not just surviving.
When we bury our feelings, we bury who we are. When trauma strikes in childhood, it is very common for a kid to bury their feelings and hide parts of themselves to cope up. But as adults one needs to let out these bottled feelings and let themselves heal and recognize their real self whose world is not built around the trauma and it’s aftermath.
Most people have no idea that they have been a victim to trauma, let alone emotional trauma, at some point in their life. Acknowledging that you were once a victim and taking control of your life from there is the hardest and bravest decision one would probably have to make. But it is also the first and very important step in helping oneself get through what happened in the past.
Emotional trauma on children or simply any trauma is not entirely evil. The silver lining of the whole fiasco is that, healing from it means discovering new strengths and joy, appreciating the finer details of life. The whole point of recovery is to not paper over the changes and present oneself as the ‘so called normal’, but to acknowledge and wear a new outlook in life, scars, wisdom and all with courage.
To conclude, I would like to quote something, I once read – “It is a blessing to shift from surviving to thriving. It is not easy, or simple, but there is more than survival.”
REFERENCES:
- www.psychologytoday.com
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org
- www.akaumindbody.com
- https://dualdiagnosis.org
- www.pinterest.com
- Emergence of early childhood trauma in adult psychiatric symptomology – Study by G Bouras.
- Impact of trauma on children – Study by Roy Lubit.
- www.pexels.com
- http://www.freepik.com
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