What exactly is childhood trauma?

Childhood trauma is a type of psychological injury that can lead to long-term mental health problems. It is the result of one or more traumatic events occurring in childhood. These traumatic events can range from physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, witnessing violence, to the death of parents or their divorce.

Childhood trauma is a form of psychological abuse that can have a profound effect on a child’s development. It can lead to a variety of psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.

In order to heal from past abuse and move forward with your life, it is necessary to reshape the way you think about your past and find resources to break the vicious circles you are trapped in.

Trauma is generally a topic that is not well understood by most people, especially those without a formal education. Trauma is discussed more and more, but the assessment of it is often completely wrong: events that are essentially not traumas are exaggerated far more than is the case, and at the same time, people too easily overlook certain situations that have the potential to cause severe trauma.

Just a related example: parents who are horrified because their son or daughter caught a hotter scene on TV and worry that it will scar their child for life, but the same parents don’t even question it when they threaten to leave the park without their child and “leave him there”. The first situation has little potential for trauma because in the first place there is a good chance that the child doesn’t understand much of the scene or doesn’t attach that much importance to it (and even if he does notice, it can all be easily corrected by a gentle intervention by the parent to explain what he sees), the second situation is very problematic because it can create abandonment trauma in the child, especially if repeated. And usually parents who do this don’t just do it once.

Childhood traumas that surprisingly affect us into adulthood

Childhood trauma can affect a person’s mental health, social skills and even physical health.

For example, an abused child is more likely to develop depression later in life than someone who was adopted and raised without any childhood trauma. A study of teenage girls found that they are more likely to be depressed if they suffered sexual abuse, emotional abuse or physical abuse as children.

Depression and abuse may actually cause each other. Depression can occur when someone has been exposed to trauma. It is not always the case that children who are abused will have depression, but it is a risk factor. When someone has been abused, they are more likely to develop depression in the future.

Anxiety can be a side effect of depression. Anxiety is one of the most common consequences of depression. When people feel anxious, they may think about things that make them feel more anxious and worry even more. Some people experiencing anxiety are also prone to avoid activities or situations that would lead to social embarrassment or physical injury.

Childhood trauma is not limited to the child who experienced it. It also affects people around them, such as their parents or siblings. In some cases, the effects of childhood trauma can be so severe that it results in a syndrome called complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD). In addition, research has suggested that childhood trauma is linked to future mental health problems. Research has also suggested that childhood trauma (such as childhood abuse, neglect or emotional or physical abuse) may predispose people to developing other mental health disorders later in life.

Some studies have found that people who experienced childhood trauma are more likely to develop

• substance use disorders, such as alcohol and drug abuse
• mood disorders
• anxiety disorders
• eating disorders
• psychotic symptoms (such as hallucinations and delusions)
• post-traumatic stress
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• borderline personality disorder

People with childhood trauma may also be more likely to experience poor physical health, such as heart disease, cancer, digestive disorders, depression or autoimmune diseases.

What can cause childhood trauma?

Childhood trauma can be caused by many things, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect or abandonment. These situations can lead to a hostile environment in adult relationships:

1. Parental abuse

Parental abuse is a form of child abuse that occurs when a parent or caregiver harms a child. It can be physical, emotional or sexual.

The most common form of parental abuse is physical abuse. This includes hitting, shaking, burning and other forms of violence against the child. Emotional abuse is also common and includes putting the child down and making them feel worthless. Sexual abuse does not need much explanation but it should be noted that sexual abuse is not limited to sexual acts, it can include touching and other inappropriate gestures by an adult.

2. Family separation

Family separation can cause trauma for everyone involved, especially children.

Separation can occur for a variety of reasons, ranging from common situations such as parental divorce, to crisis situations, for example family separation due to war, political reasons (deportations, political arrests and so on) or in various other special situations: illegal migrants from Mexico to the US are frequently separated from their families if they are caught and detained in an immigration centre.

In Eastern european countries, for instance, the most common situation of family separation is when one or both parents leave to work in another country.

3. Serious illness or loss of a close family member growing up

Death anxiety is a normal response to the death of a loved one. It is a feeling of fear, dread and worry about death.

Death anxiety can be caused by many factors, such as the loss of a loved one, the fear of dying alone or even just thinking about death in general.

Bereavement counselling is an important part of coping with death anxiety. It helps people process their feelings and find ways to move forward with their lives.

4. Bullying at school/work

Bullying is a form of aggressive behaviour that is repeated over time. It can happen at work or at school.

Bullying can be physical, verbal or emotional. It can also be done through social media and text messaging. Bullying can happen to anyone, but it is more common among children and teenagers who are at school.

The effects of bullying are long-lasting and can lead to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

5. Childhood sexual abuse or assault

A traumatic childhood sexual experience can lead to problems with intimacy and relationships well into adulthood. It is somewhat of a pleonasm to say traumatic childhood sexual experience, because if we are talking about childhood, any sexual experience is traumatic.

Childhood sexual abuse can lead to lasting effects on a person’s well-being, such as negative self-image and distrust of authority figures, because often the abuse was committed by someone in authority.

Despite the difficulties that arise from an experience like this, healing is possible through therapy, self-care strategies and compassion.

6. Witnessing an act of violence

Due to stress, victims and witnesses of a violent incident may experience symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety attacks, hypervigilance, startle response and avoidance of people or places that a child associates with the event.

Children who witness violence in their homes are also more likely to repeat the behaviour themselves as they get older or to display aggressive tendencies.

7. Natural disasters occurring in the child’s formative years

Every formative experience, such as natural disasters, leaves behind an important lesson.

Natural disasters have the power not only to shape a country but also a person’s outlook on life. Scientists generally agree that early exposure to adversity is at odds with later physical, social and mental well-being. The effects of these experiences range from asthma to autism spectrum disorder, from ADHD to generalised anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

What are the symptoms of childhood trauma?

Childhood trauma can have a profound effect on how an individual functions as an adult. In some cases, it can lead to mental health disorders, substance abuse and suicide.

The symptoms of childhood trauma are different for each person. They depend on the severity and duration of the trauma, as well as the age at which it occurred. Some common symptoms include:

• depression
• anxiety
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• chronic pain
• sleep disturbance
• nightmares or flashbacks
• difficulty sleeping or concentrating
• feeling detached from others or feeling numb inside
• feeling insecure in your own body or surroundings

The symptoms often make it difficult for these people to live a normal life and they may have high levels of stress and worry that need treatment from a mental health professional.

They can also lead to physical health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.

Signs of childhood trauma

Childhood trauma is a serious problem that can lead to PTSD in adulthood. It is important to provide children with support and access to mental health services so they can get the help they need and prevent PTSD.

The first step in preventing childhood trauma is identifying the signs of trauma in children. These signs include:

• Changes in behavior, such as aggression or withdrawal
• Changes in sleep patterns, such as nightmares or nocturnal enuresis (child wets the bed at night in his sleep)
• Changes in eating habits, such as overeating or refusing to eat
• Changes in school performance, such as problems concentrating or refusing to go to school

The second step is to take appropriate action to help your child. In general, the actions taken will be determined by the severity of the trauma.

For major trauma, children may need to go through therapy first before they can talk to their parents or guardians.

The effect of childhood trauma on the brain

Research has shown that trauma seriously affects brain development. Childhood is an extremely important period in the development of the brain, as it forms between 700 and 1000 new neuronal connections per second in the first few years of life. All this structure will become the basis of a person’s later development.

Trauma affects the entire development of the brain and in particular the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex regions. Some animal studies have shown that trauma directly affects the neurons themselves, even to the point of destruction in some cases. Any trauma provokes a stress response in the body, stress that causes the release of stress hormones, especially cortisol and norepinephrine.

Prolonged exposure to these stress hormones has numerous negative effects on a person’s body and mind.

So, if you were subjected to trauma as a child, does that mean you can’t do anything about it? No, absolutely not. But it does mean that it is serious and needs to be treated as such.

Psychotherapy can help you heal the trauma and limit or eliminate its effects in your life, i.e. you will have healthier relationships with others, feel more in control of your life and your mood and attitude towards life will improve.

There are even studies (Kings College, London, 2017, for example) that have shown that psychotherapy causes the brain to increase activity in precisely those structures that are affected by trauma, as a process of repairing damage.

Treatment of childhood trauma through psychotherapy

Coping with the pain of childhood trauma is a difficult process. It takes time, patience and effort to unlearn the negative patterns that have been learned as a result of the trauma suffered.

There are many different types of childhood trauma therapy techniques, but they all have one thing in common – they require a great deal of patience on the part of both the therapist and the client.

The first step in dealing with childhood trauma is to understand what it is and how it affects the person. In this case, psychotherapy is a process that helps the individual address their past and resolve their feelings about it.

Childhood trauma psychotherapy can be done in many different ways, but there are a few common steps that are followed by most therapists.

The first step is to identify what type of childhood trauma the person experienced and then identify any triggers or memories associated with it.
The next step would be to help the person understand why they feel certain emotions when they think about this event or experience these triggers.
Finally, work needs to be done on developing coping skills to deal with these feelings.

Childhood trauma therapy can be helpful in finding ways to cope and overcome the effects of childhood trauma on your life.

Conclusion: Understanding and addressing childhood trauma

Understanding and addressing childhood trauma is extremely difficult. But by reviewing the studies to date, an intervention protocol can be developed.

Childhood trauma is a global problem and, because of the variety of different symptoms, there are no treatments with 100% success rates in all situations.

What ensures effective healing is time and patience. Healing from trauma often causes new memories to surface and a sense of safety is slowly restored.

Many survivors of such trauma are also able to begin to rebuild their self-esteem if given therapeutic support. It is important to treat these situations because traumatic experiences last a lifetime and the remnants remain and work in a person’s subconscious at all stages of development, even until death.