Effects of childhood trauma in adulthood

By | Last Updated: 16 January 2023

Before I take you on the topic of the effect of childhood trauma on adulthood, I would like to discuss a few things over trauma and childhood trauma, by which you can get the exact knowledge, what is trauma and childhood trauma, how to deal with that and what can be its effects over your life.

1.         Trauma: -

In terms of psychological trauma has been applied in so many contexts by so many people that it has lost some of its original meaning. Often, trauma is used to refer both to negative events that produce distress and to the distress itself

In technical terms, “trauma” refers only to the event, not the reaction, and should be reserved for major events that are psychologically disturbing for an individual.

American psychologist defines trauma as a direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury or other threat to one’s physical integrity; or witnessing an event that or violent death, serious harm or threat of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close associate. The person responsible for the event must involve fear, helplessness, or horror (or in children, the response must involve disorganized or agitated behavior).

Few Type of Trauma: -

•              Mass Interpersonal Violence

It involves high numbers of injuries or casualties but it doesn’t mean, it only happens in war. It is a newer category in the field of trauma.

•              Transportation Accidents

 It includes the events that happen due to airline crashes, train derailments, and accidents that happened in seas and oceans. These events mostly involve multiple victims and high fatality rates.

•              Physical Assault by Stranger

Physical assault by strangers refers to muggings, beatings, stabbings, shootings, attempted strangulations, and other violent actions taken against a person not well known to the invader.

•              Rape and Sexual Assault

Rape is a non-consensual oral, anal, or vaginal sexual penetration of an adolescent or adult through the use of threat or physical force, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent (for example, when somebody is under the influence of drugs, alcohol, etc, or when he or she is otherwise cognitively impaired).

The term sexual assault means assault typically denotes any forced sexual contact short of rape, although some authorities consider sexual assault to include any forced sexual contact, including rape.

2.         Childhood Trauma: -

Childhood trauma is directly related to the abusive events that happened in your childhood in form of physical, sexual, or emotional violence. Globally, it is estimated that up to 1 billion children belonging to groups aged 2–17 years have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect in the past.

Many children are psychologically abused and neglected, although these forms of maltreatment. For Example Childhood sexual and physical abuse, ranging from fondling to rape and from severe spankings to life-threatening beatings.

Childhood abuse and neglect not only produce significant, sometimes enduring, psychological dysfunction, but it’s also associated with greater a probability of being sexually or physically assaulted later in life.

It is not mandatory that children are being assaulted or abused by the outsider but most of the time this occurs within the family.  Child neglect and other forms as may be prescribed somewhere else of maltreatment are also more common in a society where parents are not familiar with their child or among parents who are teenagers or who abuse alcohol or drugs.

Few Types of Child abuse: -

•              Control

The abuser maintains dominance over the victim by controlling the behavior of the victim. Controlling behavior of the belief that they are doing justified in the controlling behavior and the resultant abuse is considered to be a major issue in domestic violence.

•              Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse refers to using sex in an exploitative fashion or forcing sex on another person. Having consented to sexual activity in the past does not mean that indicates current consent of sexual activity. Sexual abuse may include both verbal and physical behavior

So now you get the knowledge about trauma, child abuse that create childhood trauma in adulthood. Now let's discuss the effects of childhood trauma on adulthood: -

•              Mental Health disorders

Childhood trauma has been directly linked to depression, substance use disorder, anxiety, and other mental health disorders that are present in adulthood.

Individuals who were abused in childhood, who did not seek the proper treatment are more likely to struggle more with conflict resolutions and have poor stress management skills in adulthood.

•              Unhealthy Relationship

It is common for adults who experienced trauma in their past to be attractive to unhealthy individuals, emotionally absent or abusive people as these individuals fit in their trauma identity, which can often lead to a new cycle of trauma for them and past abusive memories and feelings.

Many of these unsuitable people are aware of their past and know what they need and want, they still choose to connect with others that can lead them down the wrong path due to their unconsciousness or their maybe influences from their childhood.

•              Seeking Help

Childhood trauma, whether it was intentional or unintentional, it has lasting effects on every aspect of adulthood. Seeking treatment is never too late.

It would be ideal for every individual who suffered from it to undergo therapy sessions in childhood or adolescence; however, seeking professional treatment in adulthood can help prevent some of these long-term adverse effects.

If you are struggling with the after-effects of trauma, it becomes very essential to know that you are not alone and not the only one also.

So now let's get conclude this whole discussion, I hope what I have written above, you have read: -

In basic terms, if I say childhood trauma in adulthood refers to that activities and events that happened in your past which has a great impact on your present life by which you are not able to enhance your skills, you are not progressing in your life, and get feeling stuck in your past, it leads depression, stress, unhealthy relationship and fear of happening of that event which happened in your past.

it's fine, to feel such things but, trust me you are not the only one in this entire world who is dealing with this, there are more people apart from you who are facing the same kind of problem.

On the other hand, if you are feeling these things and not doing anything for yourself it is not going to be fine for you it became more drastic towards your personal and professional life as well.