Childhood trauma is caused by experiencing distressing psychological, emotional, and physical events.
As a result we become impacted by the damage, fear, and pain.
Deep emotional scars caused by childhood trauma can affect a person’s life throughout, if not healed properly.
Further more, the thing about childhood trauma is that those who have been heavily affected by it’s damage, will not be easily identifiable.
Understanding the nature of childhood wounds and traumas is crucial for healing and transformation.
In this post, we’ll explore the impact of childhood trauma on the different areas of our overall health and well-being.
What does it look like?
You wouldn’t even believed how many people have had deep wounds from their childhood after having interacted with them.
Unquestionably, on the outside, they can be highly functioning within society.
For example, they have jobs, relationships, and families just like anyone else.
Similarly, they may even have outstanding careers, groups of friends who admire them, and what seems like a stable home life that they have built for themselves.
However, it’s the scars that lay beneath the surface that tells their stories as survivors of childhood trauma.
Unfortunately, childhood trauma needs more care and attention than most realize or even seem to care.
Furthermore, deep wounds don’t go away if we just ignore them or try to forcefully move on from them.
As a result, they only cause more damage, if left unresolved.
Trauma needs not only time to heal and to recover but it needs attention and compassion for oneself.
What causes childhood trauma:
- Physical Neglect (food & survival needs unmet)
- Emotional Neglect (love, care, and attention unmet)
- Abuse (in all forms)
- Exposure to Violence (witness or victim)
- Parent(s)/Guardian(s) had problems with addictions or mental illness
- Loss (death, divorce, or abandonment)
- Serious accidents, injury or illness
- Disasters
According to the NINHQ, in the United States, about 35 million (ages 0-17)—nearly half of American children—are exposed to adverse childhood experience that can severely harm their future health and well-being.
How childhood trauma affects us
Survivors of childhood trauma often suffer from a condition called Complex Post traumatic Stress Disorder (or CPTSD).
You might have heard about a similar psychological disorder that is common with war veterans, PTSD.
Complex Post-Traumatic Stress and Post-Traumatic Stress have very similar symptoms.
We use the term CPTSD as a stress induced mental disorder cause by long term exposure to traumatic events, whereas PTSD where is more commonly cause by a traumatic event.
Common symptoms of CPTSD may include but are not limited to:
- Low self-esteem
- Guilt or Shame
- Fear of abandonment
- Depression
- Difficulty dealing with emotions/ feelings
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Addiction
- Sleeping disorders
- Suicidal thoughts
- Chronic physical pain (without any prior injury)
- Dissociation from emotions, thoughts, body, surroundings and etc.
- Mistrust/ Paranoid with others
- Isolated/ Alone
With CPTSD there is a broad spectrum of symptoms that can occur.
You can have reoccurring symptoms over a long period of time or alternating symptoms at different times.
Other symptoms of childhood trauma include:
- Flashbacks/ Hallucination
- Anxiety/ Fear
- Anger/Rage
- Night terrors
- Sexual Promiscuity/ Risky behaviors
- Lack of motivation in life
- Extreme weight fluctuations (loss/gain)
- Poor health problems
- Social anxiety
Trauma is not normal for any childhood
If you were affected by childhood trauma and it still affects you today, understands that it was not your fault.
The horrible things that you had to go through, and witness was not your fault.
I understand that it helps us cope if we stay within the comfort zone of victimhood.
As children it’s easy to mistaken that it everything might have been our fault.
Undoubtedly the situations that we had to go through were complex. You can’t answer why it happened with just one answer.
There could be many answers to why your childhood happened the way it did.
It is not your responsibility to take the blame, what IS your responsibility is your HEALING.
You did not create the problem, but it is your responsibility to heal, to recover, and to overcome all of this darkness as the result of it.
Is it fair?? Maybe… Maybe not.
However, as survivors of childhood trauma, you have already done much of work just by surviving through the pain.
There IS a light at the end of the tunnel, which you will see if you just keep pushing forward.
Having already read this far, you should believe that there is something within you that wants to heal and to be happy.
You are so much stronger than you think!
Believe that you are worth so much more than what your childhood had to offer.
Absolutely believe that you can live a happy life and that you deserve love just like anyone else.
The journey to healing
For those who are interested in this topic due to having a friend or family member who might have suffered from childhood trauma, Kudos to your support!
Keep in mind that help is better appreciated when they have an open mind and are asking for support and assistance.
You can only meet people where they currently stand, change occurs within a person, ONLY when they are READY to do so.
How to start the healing process:
- Understand it all starts with you! This is your journey, and you will see through it how it best fits you.
- It is wise to seek the help of a professional that has experience in childhood trauma so they can properly guild you along your journey. There might be times you have questions or need assistance to uncover all the layers of trauma.
- Be kind and have patience with yourself along this journey. It will be a novelty experience that requires self-compassion.
- Journal your thoughts and feelings to help reflect and release during the different stages of healing.
- Let your emotions run their course throughout the journey. The biggest mistake we can make with pain is to hold it in and bury it deep down, it just never works. Intense negative emotions need to be released properly.
- During your healing journey choose people, places, and things that bring you peace. Try to stay away from negativity as it will hinder and limit your healing process.
- Invite more self-care and self-love practices in your daily routine. (Here’s how, click here)
- Know you can do this, you can heal from this and come out stronger. Happiness is a choice.
Remember, you childhood trauma does not define you.
With the proper mindset it’s possible to heal, grow, and lead a fulfilling life.
On another note, if you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of childhood trauma, don’t hesitate to reach out for help.
You’re not alone, and recovery IS possible.
