3 Effects of Childhood Trauma on Your Adulthood
The word “childhood” draws up images that depict nothing but innocence, unadulterated joy, and pure wholesomeness. Children require protection, love, and care to develop into fully functional, healthy, and happy beings. But when children aren’t given the right circumstances and environment to grow in, facing traumatic experiences like abuse and neglect, they can be negatively impacted for the rest of their life, living their life in survival mode.
Every adult who grew up in traumatic circumstances carries a different intensity of mental trauma. They can become emotionally disconnected and get stuck in vicious cycles of self-sabotaging behaviors, falling prey to numerous mental health issues.
Here are some effects that childhood trauma can have on your adulthood.
Effect on Emotional Health
A childhood trauma survivor can have two different emotional reactions – complete emotional disconnection or extreme sensitivity.
Once someone goes through a traumatic event, either their brain shuts down and becomes numb to any sensation or activates the fight or flight response.
Bullying in school, neglect from either of the parental figures and not feeling like they are accepted in their friend’s group due to a different social background can profoundly affect a child’s mental health.
Effect on Body and Brain
Several environmental factors can have an effect on a person’s development.
Extreme stress and trauma can alter a person’s immune system and stress responses. Ordinary levels of stress can become extremely debilitating for survivors of childhood trauma leading to chronic levels of anxiety and depression.
The imprint of trauma is so permanent that it can change a person’s DNA makeup and then pass down through generations.
Effect on Mental Health
Survivors of childhood trauma are more vulnerable to mental illnesses like PTSD, depression, misuse of drugs, and general anxiety disorders. The brain of people who have been through trauma is always acting in survival mode, getting easily agitated and distressed, trying to protect themselves.
But there are many ways to heal as well. Allow yourself to accept your situation, and remember that there is no shame in seeking help when things get too intense.
If you’re looking for insightful books on mental health and want to learn more about the effects of childhood trauma throughout adult life, read Luis Trivino’s debut book, A Notebook of Love. This book is a brilliant piece where Trivino pens down his fight with alcoholism, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and how these mental illnesses affected his relationships. Grab your copy of the book today!