As we grow up, each one experiences good and bad happenings. Good childhood experiences boost happiness and cultivate positive attitude towards life. 

On the contrary, bad happenings in the form of adversity, traumatic event and emotional neglect trigger strong emotional responses, which may stay with children for the entire duration of their life.

Children’s mind is usually unable to make proper inferences of the situation. Inability to understand, process and cope with adversity, traumatic events and associated unhealthy emotions makes them feel that they have no control over their lives. Moreover, they lack the importance of sharing their feelings with family or caregivers. 

Therefore, it’s natural to experience strong emotional responses especially when child’s need for nurturing and caring get neglected.

Impact on mental health

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) defines a traumatic event as any frightening, dangerous or violent that poses a threat to the physical safety, well-being, or bodily integrity of a child. The event is emotionally painful and mentally distressing.

Traumatic events may directly involve the child or the parent, guardian or caregiver. Threats to the physical safety of loved one may be as traumatic as direct threats to the child. Thus, a childhood trauma is the result of anything that compels a child to feel helpless, hopeless or disrupts his/her sense of safety and security.

Unaddressed childhood trauma can impact mental and emotional well-being of children. Getting angry, developing new fears or phobias, obsession with safety, loss of interest in hobbies or activities and changes in eating and sleeping habits are common in traumatized children. 

Unaddressed emotional neglect usually brings overwhelming sense of fear and loss among affected children. 

The impact of unresolved childhood trauma can be long-lasting. It ruins various areas of life in their adulthood such as physical health, emotional health, education and relationship.

Survivors of childhood trauma often experience feelings of fear, anxiety, worry, sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, shame, guilt, grief and anger in their adult life. These children are at significant risk for developing anxiety, depression, PTSD, alcohol misuse and self-harm tendencies in adulthood.

An adult who experienced childhood trauma is unable to regulate his/her emotions, have sleep difficulties and lowered immune function. This could result in a number of lifestyle diseases such as heart problems, stroke, diabetes and cancer in adult life.

However, the good news is that childhood trauma can be healed with proper guidance.

Addressing Childhood Trauma

The first step in addressing childhood trauma is recognizing warning signs. Parents, caregivers and teachers can play a crucial role in early identification of signs of childhood trauma. Spending more time with a child gives you an opportunity to observe and recognise negative emotions.

This is followed by understanding and caring of your child. Your child just need a kind, sensitive and empathic response. Make your child comfortable to share his/her feelings. During conversation, acknowledge their feelings and give them reassurance. Some children respond very well, but some may take time to heal. Understanding and caring help your child heal and thrive.

Along with this, try to cultivate positive attitude for life. Positive happenings boost confidence, improve self-esteem and encourage growth. Encouraging your child to focus on positive happenings can create a sense of belonging and independence.

Children spend most of their time in educational spaces. This gives an opportunity to teacher to observe, recognize and address emotional issues among children. Many times children are comfortable in sharing their emotional issues with a teacher rather than parents/caregivers. Therefore, school-based mental health education is a vital part of a student support system. 

Seeking professional help from mental health experts is always a good option to heal childhood trauma. Various strategies and therapies offered by professional experts help children and families to overcome adverse effect of traumatic situation and fasten recovery.

Cognitive processing therapy, narrative exposure therapy, play therapy and art therapy are some of the effective ways to heal childhood trauma. These therapies play an important role in getting rid of unhelpful thoughts related to trauma and bring emotional balance. Additionally, such kinds of therapy are effective ways to boost self-confidence, build self-esteem and reduce conflict and stress.

Each child is unique and has different mental resilience. Therefore, healing process can vary in between the child. However, staying mentally resilient is as important for growing children as for adults or perhaps more than it.

Disclaimer

Mediclin Brain Health’s content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.