#Signs of childhood emotional trauma series#

Unprocessed childhood trauma can have serious effects on physical health. Physical Health for Adult Childhood Trauma Survivors

Whether it was something modeled for you directly from your caregivers, or a survival mechanism developed during traumatic events, those stress responses will present themselves as you deal with parenting challenges. What’s more, all of the ways you learned to manage stress as a child, good or bad, can show up in your parenting. Sometimes, raising kids can magnify your struggles with emotion regulation. Even if you thought you resolved some of your past “stuff”, taking care of little humans can trigger all sorts of childhood experiences you thought were long resolved. Having a child is a huge life transition that can have a big impact on your mental health. Sometimes even normal life transitions can stir up traumatic childhood memories, causing trauma symptoms to show up in the present.Ĭhildhood Trauma Symptoms in Adults and Parenting Or maybe you’ve already processed your past trauma in therapy and then boom, something happens to trigger a trauma response. It might be hard to connect present day symptoms to these situations.

Or perhaps your brain long buried the memory of a tragic experience and you’re only peripherally aware of it’s existence. Maybe you’ve experienced so much systematic abuse that you are not able to recognize it as trauma.

Childhood trauma can have such varying effects that it can be confusing to experience and sometimes difficult to nail down. While others who experience major stressors or losses respond with little to no emotion. Some childhood trauma survivors deal with intense emotional reactions to common everyday situations. Childhood Trauma Symptoms Can be Confusing They may not even realize something is going on. They might experience problems with attachment and conflict in their relationships.įor some adults, the symptoms may not always make sense or seem connected to their childhood experiences. Sometimes these issues develop into disorders and carry forward through to adulthood.Ĭhildhood trauma survivors may have diagnoses like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or other mental health disorders.

#Signs of childhood emotional trauma series#

Surviving a traumatic event or series of traumatic events as a child can sometimes result in significant mental health issues. How Symptoms of Childhood Trauma Can Affect AdultsĬhildhood trauma can have a devastating impact on a child, but it can also lead to problems later in life. Parental Separation, Divorce, or Incarceration.Severe Mental Health Issues in the Home.Child Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, neglect).Here are some examples of adverse childhood experiences that could result in childhood trauma: What’s more, the latest National Survey of Children’s Health data shows in 2017-18, when you exclude economic hardship, approximately 30 percent of children experienced one ACE, and about 14 percent of children experienced two or more. Nearly 1 in 6 adults surveyed experienced 4 or more ACEs during childhood. Examples of Childhood Trauma or ACEsĪccording to the Center for Disease Control, ACEs are fairly prevalent in the United States. dissociation) may face lasting effects of trauma. Additionally, children who experience traumatic events that result in an altered state of consciousness (i.e. Trauma can occur when the child is not able to get support following an adverse experience. What is Childhood Trauma?Ĭhildhood trauma, sometimes discussed in conjunction with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), are events that threaten a child’s safety and/or wellbeing and negatively impact functioning. Here are 6 surprising symptoms that you might not have thought to be related to childhood trauma. They might chalk it up to personality flaws, environmental factors, or simply their own failings, when really it’s unprocessed trauma. Some adults aren’t aware that the symptoms they are experiencing are a result of childhood trauma. Symptoms of childhood trauma in adults can vary, and are somewhat dependent on the way the traumatic events were stored in the brain and body. Childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have lasting effects.