About 7 out of 10 children will experience at least one traumatic event before they turn 18. This is a daunting reality in general. But there’s something particularly challenging when the trauma survivor is a young person. Many do not have the emotional and cognitive skills to process or even understand what happened.
On top of that, trauma has been found to negatively impact childhood development. This impact, left unchecked, can last well into adulthood. Adults who endured childhood trauma may experience issues with trust, feeling safe, and impaired neurological functioning. Let’s take a closer look.
What Can Cause Childhood Trauma?
When a young person endures trauma, it’s called an adverse childhood experience (ACE). What causes ACEs can vary widely. Here are some of the more common reasons:
- Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
- Living in a home with domestic violence, substance abuse, illness, and disability
- Loss of a loved one via death, divorce, incarceration, and more
- Neglect and abandonment
- Natural disasters
- War, crime, and terrorism
- Sexual exploitation, trafficking, and prostitution
Signs of Traumatic Stress in Children of All Ages
- Children of preschool age may exhibit symptoms and behaviors like crying spells, separation anxiety, nightmares, acting out, and an unwillingness to eat.
- As traumatized children get old enough to start elementary school, they may display relentless anxiety, sleep issues, loss of focus and concentration, and feelings of guilt and shame.
- By middle and high school, a trauma survivor may begin to engage in risky, self-harming behaviors. This can include substance abuse, social withdrawal, and running with the wrong crowd.
How Trauma Impacts Childhood Development
Regardless of the cause, trauma during childhood can affect kids on a deep level. It can bring about outcomes like:
Ongoing Challenges with Relationships
This impact goes beyond romantic partnerships. Survivors of childhood trauma often struggle with unhealthy attachment styles. How they were treated in their formative years sets the stage for dynamics like:
- A fear of abandonment or abuse can cause them to become people pleasers. They literally fear saying no to anyone.
- Children are inherently vulnerable. When that vulnerability is betrayed, it’s hard to even consider opening up to trust people. It feels unsafe.
- Someone who endured trauma at such a young age is likely to suppress their feeling. The thought of sharing their emotions feels risky or even dangerous.
Mental and Emotional Health Problems
Anyone who went through an ACE is three times more likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues as an adult. In some cases, the risk is even greater. With borderline personality disorder, ACE survivors are 15 times more likely to be diagnosed than people who did not endure any ACEs.
Other mental health conditions that can emerge due to trauma impacting a child’s development include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), and depression. In addition, impaired development can cause:
- Inability to regulate emotions
- Anger management issues
- Challenges when trying to manage stress
- Dissociation
- Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts
Physical/Medical Health Concerns
ACEs are very, very stressful. Such stress also hampers a child’s development — their physical development, that is. Their immune system and central nervous system can lead to higher incidences of diseases like:
- Cancer
- Autoimmune diseases
- Pulmonary disease
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Chronic pain
- Asthma
The Impacts of Trauma Can Be Addressed and Reversed
Even if a long time has passed, you or your child can recover! Even if the impacts of trauma are tricky to discern, working with a skilled therapist can help you make sense of it all, we’ve got you! If you’re struggling to get your footing under you and you suspect that you have had a childhood trauma that needs to be put in its proper place, you can schedule here day or night. Or if you’d like a real person to get you paired with the right therapist, reach out with this form now and we’ll be in touch ASAP. We also have girl experts at each location for your child if they are struggling right now as well! Reach out, we can help!
