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Child abuse and the effects into adulthood
Child abuse and the effects into adulthood
Child abuse and the effects into adulthood
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Every year, millions of children world wide endure some form of abuse. Without receiving help for the trauma, these children grow into adults with a past that inhibits them from thriving in society. While a minority do not show lasting signs of abuse, majority are too scarred by the experience to recover from it. Adults who suffered from physical, sexual, mental or emotional abuse as children suffer from a multitude of disorders, such as OCD, psychosis, and depression in the later stages of life, hindering success in society. Children and adults who received abuse cope with the trauma in different ways, but sometimes this coping displays in the form of severe side effects. One specific side effect of trauma is a disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD, while common in many adults, can vary in its extremity. The disorder presents mildly, or in severely affected adults, features melt downs over a minuscule disarray. In a scholarly study written by Audrey Tyrka, Margaret Wyche, and Linda Carpenter, titled Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Personality Disorder Symptoms, the authors state that out of 105 studied individuals who suffered trauma early in life, 11.25% of the patients suffered from severe OCD and control issues (Tyrka, Wyche and Carpenter).The article …show more content…
Psychosis is the loss of contact with reality and the failure to cope with stress. In the article titled Childhood trauma and psychosis - what is the evidence?, authors Ingo Schäfer and Helen Fisher provide evidence that, "Researchers found a significant, interaction between daily life stress and childhood trauma [...] suggesting that, a history of childhood trauma is associated with increased sensitivity to stress" (Schäfer and Fisher). The article highlights that children who endured trauma were more likely to fail at stress management, and ultimately choose a life that disassociates them from the outside
Moreover, Complex trauma is a leading factor in many health issues and diagnoses such as ADHD, ADD, Anxiety disorder, Borderline disorder, depression, bipolar, and PTSD. The list of possible diagnoses is endless, and finding proper treatment is a struggle. In 2013, a Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) was proposed, with a complete diagnosis description and criteria, for consideration for the DSM-5. But unfortunately, even with 20-year supporting research accompanying the proposal, the disorder still goes unrecognized as a formal diagnosis (Kilrain
Perhaps one of the most puzzling facets of BPD, as in other mental disorders, is where and how it originates. One of the most common myths about BPD is that all of its sufferers are victims of abuse. While this is false, it is true that individuals with BPD are more likely to report experiencing traumatic events during childhood, the most common being physical and sexual abuse and seeing domestic violence (Herman, Perry & Van der Kolk, 1989). Gelder describes her own history of trauma toward the end of the memoir, in which she was manipulated in...
Child abuse is a serious issue in today's society. Many people have been victims of child abuse. There are three forms of child abuse: physical, emotional, and sexual. Many researchers believe that sexual abuse is the most detremental of the three. A middle-aged adult who is feeling depressed will probably not relate it back to his childhood, but maybe he should. The short-term effects of childhood sexual abuse have been proven valid, but now the question is, do the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse affect middle-aged adults? Many contradicting views arise from the subject of childhood sexual abuse. Researchers and psychologists argue on this issue. Childhood sexual abuse has the potential to damage a child physically, emotionally, and behaviorally for the rest of his or her childhood, and the effects have been connected to lasting into middle-aged adulthood.
The psychological effects that are created through abuse often create physical side effects as well. These psychological effects, such as anxiety and depression, could cause reoccurring headaches, loss of appetite, insomnia, and many other physical effects due to growing up with a heightened stress response. Even after the abuse ends, adult survivors of childhood abuse are at a higher risk for many long-term problems including “…chronic pain and fibromyalgia, gynecological problems, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, headaches, cardiovascular disease, and chronic fatigue syndrome”. Physical abuse usually causes more noticeable side effects than mental or emotional abuse, and they can also sometimes cause life-long problems. The longer the abuse occurs, the worse the repercussions will be. Long-term abuse can result in physical disabilities, brain damage, and even death. The amount of negative physical effects that come from childhood abuse show that the idea of positive physical effects coming from the situation as well is
Children experience decreased development in the left brain when traumatic events occur (Network, n.d.). Imagine being a child and growing up with these types of events occurring. A traumatic event in a child’s life can cause a child to experience a long lasting negative effect. Life events are happening everywhere and more often in the lives of children (Understanding Child Traumatic Stress, n.d.). Trauma can cause them to do three things. First, they try to see what the danger is and how serious it is. Secondly there are strong emotional and physical reactions. Thirdly they attempt to come up with what to do that can help them with the danger. Traumatic events can cause a child to develop differently, which effects the young child stage,
The term “Psychological trauma” refers to damage wrought from a traumatic event, which that damages one’s ability to cope with stressors. “Trauma” is commonly defined as an exposure to a situation in which a person is confronted with an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to self or others’ physical well-being (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Specific types of client trauma frequently encountered by which therapists and other mental health workers frequently encounter in a clinical setting include sexual abuse, physical , or sexual assault, natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis, domestic violence, and school or/and work related violence (James & Gilliland, 2001). Traumatic events tend to overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life. The severity of traumatic events cannot be measured in on any single dimension; the primary characteristic of the traumatic event is its power to inspire helplessness and terror. It is also important to realize that a survivor’s experience of the traumatic event is a subjective experience of the objective event. Trauma itself may come in several forms, and there are vast differences among people who experience trauma and the types of reactions trauma elicits in them.
There are several domains that must be considered when treating a survivor of child abuse: the need for safety and trust, sense of belonging, protection from perceived or actual threats, facing the defendant in court, prevention of revictimization, and empowerment (Sawyer & Judd, 2012). Davis, 2005, states that “children terrorized through sexual abuse, neglect, physical abuse, or wartime atrocities may suffer from lasting wounds, nightmares, depression, and troubled adolescence involving substance abuse, binge eating, or aggression.” Victims of child abuse need to regain their sense of control over their lives. Experiencing healthy relationships, being nurtured by adults and helping them to learn resilience are all interventions that have been well-documented (Sawyer & Judd, 2...
According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event. Some terrible events that happen all too often are rape, natural disasters or an accident. Immediately following the event shock and denial are likely to occur, but in the long-term flashbacks, unpredictable emotions and troubled relationships can arise. Defining emotional trauma on a child. Emotional trauma in a child can be created by bullying, emotional abuse, death of loved ones, separation from parent, or chaos and dysfunction in the household. Child symptoms of trauma can be very similar to depression symptoms. They can over sleep or sleep to little, unexplained anger, trouble focusing, obsessive worrying and some anxiety. How a child experiences an event and how it’s handled by those around him have an effect on how traumatizing it can be, notes Dr. Jerry Bubrick (Child Mind Institute , 2017). People grieve at different speeds and the way the child grieves is not the correct indicator on how the child will cope later. Defining physical trauma on a child. Physical trauma on a child is considered non-accidental or the cause of physical injury. Some households that suffer from alcoholism/substance abuse and anger issues have higher occurrences of child abuse as compared to households without according to psychology today. Sometimes kids that are abused are unaware that they are being abused and are victims of child
During disastrous event there are often no escape from trauma either it may be physical or mental trauma. Disaster occurs in many ways and at times it can takes away from people the ability to cope. To which extent that this may occur depends on the mental process of each individual who experience trauma. Sigmund Freud explored these concepts by looking closely at the correlation between those who experiences trauma and to extent in which they are able to deal with the memories during post-traumatic event (Halpern, & Tramontin, 2007). Freud had some association in exploring the concept of trauma; either it may be on the specific focus of hysteria or dissociation in people as a result of disastrous events.
Abuse can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time. This is repetitive acts of behavior of wanting to maintain power and have control over someone whether it be through childhood, adolescents, or adulthood. This subject is sensitive as it impacts so many different people around the world. The topic of abuse is not just a family matter, it comes in all forms, such as sexual, emotional, and physical. Abuse is accompanied by the long term emotional tolls, especially on children because their brains are still developing and can take abuse harder than others. One question to ask, is how does one overcome abuse? As children and adolescents develop, how do they function emotionally and physically? These traumatic experiences that happen through
When a child has been physically abused, there are noticeable bruises, or other effects on the person. On the other hand, most people do not recognize or even know the effects of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can deeply wound a child, and as the child grows, the scars will remain; the scars that people do not see that can cause a lifetime of suffering. These invisible scars can affect a person’s development as they struggle to accept themselves from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Emotional abuse negatively impacts an individual’s self-esteem, which can in turn, cause depression and substance abuse later in adulthood.
Trauma is a psychological reaction to sudden traumatic events and overwhelming issues from outside. Additionally, the exposure to activities that are outside the human’s normal experiences. Traumatic events become external and incorporate into the mind (Bloom, 1999, p. 2). Traumatization happens when the internal and external forces do not appropriately cope with the external threat. Furthermore, trauma causes problems because the client’s mind and body react in a different way and their response to social groups. The symptoms of trauma relate to irritability, intrusive thoughts, panic and anxiety, dissociation and trance-like states, and self-injurious behaviors (Bloom, 1999, p. 2). Childhood trauma happens when they live in fear for the lives of someone they love (Bloom, 1999, p. 2). Judith Herman’s trauma theory states that the idea of repressed memories relates to unconscious behavior. These repressed behaviors include those inhibited behaviors relate to memories of childhood abuse. From McNally’s point of view memories of trauma cannot be repressed especially those that are more violent (Suleiman, 2008, p. 279). In addition, one of the theories used to dealing with trauma includes the coping theory. With situations, people tend to use problem-solving and emotion-focused coping. Emotion-focused coping happens when people are dealing with stressors. When the stressors become more
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
One of the most obvious and damaging results of child abuse is death; however, research illustrating the effects on a growing child who has been abused has demonstrated many other lifelong negative factors (Felitti, Anda, Nordenberg, Williamson, Spitz, Edwards, Koss, Marks, 1998). In consonance children who suffer from abuse can show signs of depression, social withdraw, and even violent behavior. As a child grows older, they may suffer from poor physical health, such as high blood pressure, obesity, stress, and psychological disorders and disabilities (Herronkohl, T., Hong, Klika, and Herronkohl, R., 2013). Child abuse and neglect have also been associated with depression, anger disorders, and post-traumatic
The treatment of childhood maltreatment effects s still in its infancy, however. It is likely that the next decade will bring with it a burfeoning of treatment techniques and approaches relevant to child abuse sequale. As this field develops, so too grows the opportunity for clincians to provide increasingly more effective services to abuse survivors. To the extent that child abuse trauma underlies a significant proportion of modern mental health problems, these developments are likely to have substantial implications for mental health practice in the years to come. (P.163)