The psychological effects of trauma on behavior and personality are closely related. If a person has a traumatic experience in life, the mind can go through some changes to protect that person from themselves and the scarred memories that they’ve experienced. For example, a child that has been physically abused could develop a disorder that would not allow them to become close to people in general (Joel 1998). The trustworthiness of everyone that the victim came in contact with would be questioned regardless if they deemed people friend, foe, or family. Everyone would be a potential threat and the victim of the physical abuse would rather seclude themselves. People that have been sexually abused sometimes become a nymphomaniac and have promiscuous sex with random people because that’s what they learned …show more content…
There have been studies done wherein these dramatic and riveting sessions, one soldier sits hunched over on his hospital cot, staring blankly ahead, responding to nothing and nobody until the single word “bomb” is said, whereupon he dives for cover underneath the small bed. Another man lies almost naked on the bare floor, his back rigidly arched, his arms and hands clawing the air as he tries, spasmodically and without success, to clamber onto his side and stand up. Yet another, who once bayoneted an enemy in the face, now opens his mouth wide into a gaping yaw and then closes it, and opens it and closes it, over and over and over again. It was originally thought that PTSD represented a normative response, at the extreme end of a response continuum, the severity of which related primarily to trauma/stressor intensity. However, it has become clear over time that the response of an individual to trauma depends not only on stressor characteristics, but also on factors specific to the individual (Sherin
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Those associated with poor parenting are the individuals who are most vulnerable to developing this mental illness. Poor parenting can include failing to protect a child from abuse from an outside, another family or from the other parent. Children can still develop borderline personality disorder even if they have not been subjected to such environmental traumas. (Friedel, 2012) The most frequent childhood abuse was found to be sexual abuse (Bohus, Lieb, Linehan, n.d.). A number of studies have been analyzing the contribution of interpersonal trauma in borderline personality have singled out childhood sexual abuse as a major psychological risk factor. In a study that was done, they found that individual who reported having experienced interpersonal trauma at any point during their lives were eight times as likely to screen positive for borderline personality disorder.(Westphal, Bravova, Gameroff, Gross, Wickramaratne, and Neria, 2013) Another study showed that one possible explanation of emotional dysregulation is linked with traumatic experiences and that traumatic events hinder the development of recognizing and labeling emotional states. Being able to identify and describe emotions is importance to the processing of emotional experiences of daily life. (Gaher, Hofman, Simons, and Hunsaker,
...manifest developmental, behavioral, and emotional problems. This implies the interpersonal nature of trauma and may explain the influence of veteran Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on the child’s development and eventual, long-term and long-lasting consequences for the child’s personality. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2525831).
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Childhood Trauma is defined as “The experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects.” (The National Institute of Mental Health). Childhood trauma is an epidemic that seems to be running its way throughout the world. Childhood trauma is a worldwide problem that can affect anyone and everyone. People tend to just try and help the problems that occur due to the childhood trauma, but not the problem itself. Many of these issues will also follow the child into their adult years and will cause negative effects. This paper will discuss the negative outcomes for a child who suffers from childhood trauma, and the negative outcomes that can follow them into adulthood.
Many researchers link behavioral problems in adulthood to childhood abuse. One researcher says that "An adult who was sexually abused as a child has a greater chance of becoming violent, suicidal, and abusive to their children than an adult who was not abused sexually as a child" (Kliest 155). These characteristics could hinder a victim from living a normal lifestyle and having a family. Kliest also states, "Adults who were abused sexually as children will have a greater chance than those who were not of experiencing sexual dysfunction, such as flashbacks, difficulty in arousal, and phobic reactions to sexual intimacy" (156). Many researchers agree that childhood sexual abuse has a negative effect on an adult's personal relationships. Another researcher states, "A history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) appears to have an adverse impact on the quality of adult intimate relationships, and they report avoiding the development of close adult relationships because of their fear of rejection" (Whiffen 1103).
The disorder consists of two or more recognizable identities which change personality and appearance. Though there are as many as one hundred separate personalities, there are five different generalized alters (Swartz, 2001). These consist of a depressed personality, a strong and angry protector, a scared and hurt child personality, a helping personality, and finally an internal persecutor personality. Each one of these derives from traumatic childhood memories and allows the victims to act now as they could not act in the time of the traumatic experience. The depressive personality causes one to repress the harmful memories and have mood swings similar to bipolar disorder. This is common as it expresses the sadness they felt at the time but could not show. The strong angry protector is a result of the victim not being able to protect themselves from the disturbing situations endured, it allows them to express their true anger they could not before. The scared, hurt child shows tendencies such as mistrust, anxiety attacks, and substance abuse. It is commonly the most emotionally agonizing as it provokes the authentic memories. It challenges the individual to return to the feelings they felt during the trauma. The helping personality acts as a therapist as it tries to work through the intense emotions in the given context. This personality tries to make sense of the past and present circumstances in order to bring an inner peace by providing answers as to why the trauma may have taken place. The last personality, the internal prosecutor, blames the other personalities for the history of abuse. This personality may only be obtained if the patient is aware they have other personalities. It is often named after the oppressor or offe...
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Trauma is spread through close relationships with trauma survivors. Those most at risk for developing secondary trauma are those who are witness the emotional retelling of the trauma, including family, friends, medical providers. This retelling may come in many forms such as: through speaking, writing, or drawing (Whitfield 59). One develops secondary
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