Trauma can strike anyone at any time. Nature, humans, or oneself can all contribute to the pain. When people are exposed to trauma, they are put through a lot, and their ability to cope with it determines the severity of the trauma’s effects and their long-term well-being.
Children are said to be particularly vulnerable to trauma since their brains and coping systems are still growing. As a result, they frequently deal with the long-term consequences of uncontrolled trauma. While the prevalence of childhood trauma varies by area, it can profoundly damage a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development.
What is Childhood Trauma?
Childhood trauma is defined as an activity or series of behaviours that causes an infant to feel trapped and helpless in a circumstance. Childhood trauma has different consequences depending on one’s past experiences, personality qualities, and age. Trauma has an impact on a child’s mind, spirit, and body, as well as their relationships with others, influencing many elements of development.
When children are traumatised, they exhibit a variety of physical changes, including frequent illness and weakened immune systems. Routine illness, particularly owing to a weakened immune system, obstructs cognitive development because children are exposed to high amounts of trauma, which affects their brain in a variety of ways.
Furthermore, traumatic experiences that children have when they are young obstruct their social development by dictating their behaviours and emotions. In essence, children who have been subjected to trauma or violence at home exhibit unusual behaviours that can harm their social interactions and emotional development.
The cognitive, social, and psychological stages of growth are all inextricably linked. As a result, meddling with one would cause the remaining ones to be delayed.
Studies On Childhood Trauma:
According to a study by Anda et al. (2006), persistent childhood trauma causes youngsters to feel emotionless. They are more prone to have a limited range of emotions or to have suppressed emotions. They may be able to sense vague emotions like boredom or fury at the same moment, or they may entirely suppress contentment until rage emerges.
Furthermore, they are more prone to experience negative feelings about themselves, such as being frightened when others express gratitude, not understanding how to receive a compliment, or being suspicious when others express kindness (Anda et al. 2006). More importantly, these people are more inclined to assume an overly intellectualised persona and act weirdly around others. Negative emotions associated with trauma are frequently expressed through behaviour.
Effects Of Childhood Trauma:
Childhood trauma can lead to disruptive behaviours, such as difficulty managing urges, which can lead to children harming themselves or others. According to studies, youngsters who lack self-control have a poor sense of time and are hostile to their peers and others.
Similarly, prolonged childhood trauma alters children’s behaviour and causes them to behave in ways that are diametrically opposed to their regular methods. As previously mentioned, aggressive children may vent their frustrations on others by biting, pushing, striking, kicking, or grabbing their children’s toys with force. Childhood trauma causes youngsters to lose interest in a variety of activities on a social level.
It causes kids to lose attention in school, retreat and lose interest in new connections, be unable to function independently, show fear and timidity towards their surroundings, and be unable to form new friendships or social ties. Other children may avoid them as a result of their violent behaviour or lose interest in interacting with them as a result of their lack of responsiveness. Without a doubt, a child’s trauma might be caused by a lack of social support. When a kid experiences trauma, the brain struggles to convey information to various parts of the brain, making it difficult for the youngster to comprehend information and make decisions in both social and emotional situations.
Finally, childhood trauma might have a negative impact on a child’s development. Uncontrolled childhood trauma has been related to cognitive, social, and emotional challenges that have a negative impact on practically all aspects of development, resulting in problems throughout one’s life.
Parents, schools, and caregivers must determine when a child needed assistance in order to avoid long-term consequences. Severe consequences can be avoided with early intervention. Second, professionals like teachers and caregivers should establish an engaging atmosphere that promotes children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. In fact, the early years of life are a vital period during which chronic trauma can cause stress system dysregulation and impede children’s social, psychological, and cognitive development.
Written by: Elima Lucas
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