No child should have to experience trauma. However, it, unfortunately, happens more often than most people realize. Whether it’s abuse from a loved one, a random incident, or even witnessing a traumatic event, many children experience trauma at a young age. The worst part? Childhood trauma can impact you later as an adult.
Children don’t typically have the ability to process the emotions associated with trauma in healthy, effective ways. Often, they try to repress those memories or push them down so far that they grow up without really thinking about what happened. However, emotions always demand to be felt—even if that means they start to surface years later.
Let’s take a closer look at how childhood trauma affects adulthood and what you can do if you were traumatized in your youth.
How Childhood Trauma Manifests Itself
If you dealt with trauma as a child, chances are you’ve been dealing with the effects of it for years—perhaps without realizing it. Adults who were victims of childhood trauma often have trouble socializing and struggle to maintain healthy relationships. They can also deal with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and a variety of mental health disorders. Perhaps the most dangerous problem, however, is that adults who were traumatized as children often deal with PTSD, which can lead to thoughts of self-harm and suicide.
This type of trauma can manifest itself physically, too. It often leads to sleep problems, impacting your mental and physical well-being. People with childhood trauma often have a weaker immune system and are more susceptible to certain illnesses.
If any of these problems sound familiar, it’s time to take a closer look at the things you experienced as a child. While not all of these problems automatically mean you experienced trauma, getting to the “root” cause is the first step toward healing. If trauma is the issue, it’s important to uncover it, even after all these years.
Attachment Issues
Relationships can be incredibly difficult for people who have gone through childhood trauma. Some are overly dependent, while others can be extremely independent and push people away. They might seek out unhealthy dynamics and deal with attachment issues. It’s also not uncommon for them to have extreme emotional shifts—sometimes quite suddenly. As you might expect, that can take a toll on anyone’s physical and mental health, lead to exhaustion, and negatively impact relationships.
What Can You Do?
Again, if any of these things sound familiar, it’s never too late to get the help you deserve. One of the last signs you can pay attention to is difficulty adapting to or dealing with stressful situations. You might find that things often feel too overwhelming to handle, so they fuel your anxiety even more. That’s no way to live, and you don’t have to be stuck with those fears forever.
As you can see, childhood trauma can manifest itself in many ways as an adult. Things like practicing self-care, having a strong support system, and learning how to reduce your stress levels can all help.
However, if you really want to start healing and eventually move past your trauma, therapy is the best option. A therapist can help you get to the root of your trauma, bringing it to the light for (possibly) the first time in years. Is it an easy process to go through? It’s never easy to relive something traumatic that happened years ago. But it’s often a necessary first step to truly getting past your pain.
If you’re concerned that you’re dealing with the effects of childhood trauma, don’t hesitate to contact me to set up an appointment for trauma therapy or relationship counseling.
