How Childhood Trauma Affects You in Adulthood?
Trauma is an overwhelming event that overcomes our capacity to cope. Trauma affects us emotionally, mentally, physically, and in our relationships. Examples of trauma that can affect childhood are sexual or physical abuse, natural disaster, car crash, neglect, and violence in the home. Adults who experience trauma as children are more likely to suffer from physical, mental, emotional conditions or illnesses, like post-traumatic stress disorder.
What is Childhood Trauma?
Defined by The National Institute of Mental Health as “the experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects.”
Trauma can affect a child by experiencing or witnessing something traumatic. Whether it was abuse or witnessing something like a car crash, those events can have a lasting impact on a child’s development. Between the ages of newborn to 6 years old is when a child’s brain grows and develops, and is more vulnerable to trauma. The common types of trauma are abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual), neglect (abandonment, physical/emotional needs are not met), and child’s household/…
