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Katie Peter

Professor Hunter

English 1201

2/17/2019

Effects of childhood trauma into adulthood

Think about where you grew up as a child. Whether it was in the big city, in a

neighborhood with noisy neighbors, or in a quiet home isolated and away from people. Did this

impact who you are as an adult at all? Now take a few moments to think, if just the location of

where you grew up could change so much, how much could childhood trauma affect a person?

Childhood trauma is a growing problem in our society, and can lead to major consequences

with health, stability, and relationships throughout life and way into adulthood.

“According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, or NCANDS,

approximately 3,300,000 verified cases of child abuse are reported annually in the United

States alone (Rehan 1022)”. Childhood trauma can mean a lot of things, not just abuse.

Childhood trauma is anything that can harm a child either physically, mentally, behaviorally, or

emotionally that has lasting effects on them throughout their life. It can be anything from

different types of abuse, neglect, parental divorces, household mental illnesses, household

substances misuse, and even a family member being taken away or imprisoned. Trauma can

also include sexual abuse, physical/ domestic abuse, and emotional abuse. Not only are these
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things affecting how we live as a child, but they live on with us for the rest of our lives and into

our adulthood.

Throughout research, a study named the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study was

brought up multiple times. It was done by the CDC or the Center for Disease Control and

Prevention and an organization called Kaiser. It took place between a two year period from

1995-1997. Researchers are still using it today. They are even adding on and expanding the

research. It is one of the biggest studies done on childhood trauma and its effects throughout

children (CDC). It explained how all the ACES or the examples of childhood trauma could affect

you in all types of different ways. Throughout this study they researched and found multiple

negative impacts that no one had thought of before. They also found that ACES happen way

more than anyone could have guessed. ACES are unfortunately very common in our society.

Through this study they found that there was also a huge correlation between childhood

trauma and health (Burke).

One of the ways that childhood trauma can affect a victim is through their physical

health. Trauma can put a lot of pressure and stress on anyone, but it has even worse effects on

children, who haven’t yet learned how to cope. Chronic stress, which is stress that lasts for a

long period of time, can cause many harmful and dangerous changes to a child’s body,

especially when the stressor is repeated over time. The children are a lot more susceptible to

getting sick and developing diseases and illnesses later in life.

Nadine Burke Harris, gave a TED talk about this study and her experience working with

children who had gone through some of the ACES. She said “For a person with an ACE score of
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four or more, their relative risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was two and a half

times that of someone with an ACE score of zero. For hepatitis, it was also two and a half

times. For depression, it was four and a half times. For suicidality, it was 12 times. A person

with an ACE score of seven or more had triple the lifetime risk of lung cancer and three and a

half times the risk of ischemic heart disease, the number one killer in the United States of

America (Burke)”. This means that the trauma can make the victim go through a lot more

health problems, some more severe than others.

Burke also said that trauma could change the way that our brains function. She

explained that the trauma is so powerful that our bodies and brains begin to work completely

different. For example, researchers could see changes in the way that we process information.

They even found changes in the way we produce hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline and cortisol is our body’s way of reacting to frightening stimuli. This means if we are

exposed to childhood trauma, our body can stimulate the release of adrenaline and cortisol

whenever there is a trigger point. This can wear out a child’s body. The trauma can affect the

brain in other ways as well. Such as influencing impulse control, fear reactions, and the reward

center (Burke). Our amygdala is where we process fear and stimulates the fight or flight

response.

J. Douglas Bremner has a Master’s in Psychiatry and Behavioral sciences. He claims that

“Findings from animal studies have been extended to patients with post-traumatic stress

disorder showing smaller hippocampal and anterior cingulate volumes, increased amygdala

function, and decreased medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate function. In addition, patients

with PTSD show increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to stress (Bremner)”. This
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means that the areas associated with emotions, memory, fear, and responses are altered. All

these areas are impacted by stress and trauma. Through neuroimaging doctors and researchers

have also found that the way we learn, remember, and interpret and show our feelings are

altered.

During a meeting with Shelly Lindsey, a childhood therapist, she told me a story of a

young woman who has physical health problems after childhood trauma. As a child the woman

and her mother were both physically abused by the mother’s boyfriend. The mother would try

to protect the little girl and take the abuse instead, but couldn’t always prevent it. The little girl

eventually got away but her mom was not so lucky. The boyfriend was later arrested. The girl,

who is now all grown up, is still traumatized by the incidents. She has frequent visits to the

Emergency room for different reasons. She also now has a weakened heart due to chronic

stress and is at risk for heart disease. The doctors think that the stress and the after effects of

the trauma could be the main reason the woman is at risk and experiencing these health

problems.

Childhood trauma can also affect a child’s mental health. These effects could last well up

into the adult years. Mental health effects could be anything from the development of

psychologic disorders or the increased risk of developing one or more of these disorders. Some

of these disorders can include depression, anxiety, PTSD, eating disorders, OCD, and many

more. These disorders are usually diagnosed when they are ongoing for at least a few weeks

and they start interfering with a person’s daily tasks. Some examples include sleeping problems

like Insomnia, loss of interest, loss of concentration, constant feelings of uneasiness, anxiety,

fatigue, and so much more. The trauma can also induce after effects onto a person. This means
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that anything that the victim could relate to the trauma incident could possibly trigger them,

resulting in panic/ anxiety attacks, anxious feelings, fear, and even sometimes making a person

shut down.

According to Wail Rehan, he conducted a study with his research team on a group of

Finnish individuals. A little over half of them were females, with the rest being male

participants. (Rehan, 1023). Every participant was given a CTQ, or Childhood Trauma

Questionnaire. They were then asked questions on whether they had experienced no abuse, a

single experience, or multiples experiences of abuse during their childhood. Throughout the

study, Rehan found that victims who had experienced no incidents of trauma had a much lower

risk for mental health problems outside of genetic factors. He also found that victims who

experienced more than one incident of trauma were a lot more likely to be affected. Single

experience victims were at risk, but it was significantly lower of a risk for them than for those

with multiple incidents of trauma and abuse. They also found that there was no risk difference

between females and males who have experienced similar abuse and trauma.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or otherwise known as PTSD, is the most common

mental illness or disorder that children face after a traumatic experience. It is classified as an

anxiety disorder. According to Amy Morin, who is a psychotherapist, girls are significantly more

vulnerable to experiencing PTSD after a traumatic experience than men. However, it can

happen to both. PTSD will make it very difficult for the children to be able to forget the

traumatic incident. They might have flashbacks of the incident, nightmares, insomnia, feelings
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of fear and anxiety, feelings of guilt, symptoms of depression, and difficulty trusting other

people. There is also a high amount of victims with PTSD who are also in a state of constant

awareness and are always on the lookout for dangers.

Trauma can even go as far as to change the victim’s personality completely. A child is

just starting to get to know the world. They are also just starting to get to know themselves.

This is a huge milestone for children to achieve. They are in the process of exploring and trauma

can be something that changes their entire view of the world and themselves in an instant.

According to Psychology Today, “we are more profoundly altered by highly unpleasant

experiences than by highly pleasurable ones, possibly because painful experiences signal

imminent threats to survival (Barber)”. In other words that negative experiences we have are a

lot more likely to affect how we act and think then the positive ones would. This means the fear

and the stress of the traumatic incident can cause them to associate certain things with

negative feelings and memories. This can permanently hotwire the brain to alter the way

perceive the rest of the world.

For example a dog and an electrical fence. If a dog goes pass the border of the electric

fence, the dog is going to get shocked. If the dog continues to pass the border and keeps

getting shocked he will eventually associate the border with the pain of the shock. He will learn

to not go across the border if he wants to prevent the shock. He will also quickly learn his

boundaries and fear the border. It is the same way with victims and abuse. If a child is being

abused, they will eventually associate fear and maybe even pain with the abuser. It can even go

as far as anyone or anything that can resemble the abuser. Like if a child is being sexually
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abused by her father, she could learn to be scared of all men. It is altering the way they

perceive the world and they will feel more negatively and unsafe.

Childhood trauma can also effect emotional and behavioral health. This could mean a

variety of different things such as, how you express and communicate feelings, how you feel

about the world, and how you deal with the trauma. It can also affect a person’s coping skills

and/or methods. It can lead the individuals to cope in ways that are dangerous and unhealthy

to their well-being. People who have experienced trauma are more likely to use drugs, drink

alcohol, smoke, and self-harm. They are more likely to use these things to try to deal with their

trauma or forget about it for a little while. They can also use it as a temporary distraction. They

can later become an addiction.

Academic performances, financial stability, and employment are more examples of

things that can change after trauma. Many victims begin to lose hope and start to give up on

things that are important in their life. This can make keeping up on schooling, and work

difficult. Many symptoms of trauma includes loss of interest and loss of concentration. This can

make it even more difficult for the individual to focus on their tasks or even have the

motivation to keep going. They might also have trouble with sleeping and feel too exhausted to

get things accomplished. This can also make it very difficult to do what they need to do to live a

clean, and safe lifestyle. Lastly, many victims begin to be impulsive. This can make financial

stability a challenge later in life, by making it difficult for them to budget their money and have

some savings.
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Maintaining relationships is something that many victims of childhood trauma and

abuse struggle with throughout their life. This can be anything from friendships, family

relationships, or even romantic interests. While it is different for every individual, they often

feel like they have no control over anything. This makes them vulnerable. Childhood is when

you learn to make bonds with people and learn to trust people. When you experience trauma

during this time, it disrupts that process. It can make it close to impossible to be comfortable in

a relationship. They also will have a hard time being able to open up and feel safe. Many times

they will eventually find a relationship, whether that’s a close friend or a spouse, that helps

them feel safe. They can eventually learn to trust certain people. However, not everyone is so

lucky.

During my meeting with Shelley Lindsey I also heard a story of a young man who

experienced emotional and behavioral changes. The young man grew up in an unstable home.

He lived in a neighborhood that experienced a lot of crime. His dad was an alcoholic and was

frequently intoxicated. His mother was severely depressed and was usually in bed. As a child,

the young man was constantly afraid for his safety in his neighborhood and home. He was often

alone with both of his parents preoccupied or unable to get out of bed. As a young man now,

the man is dependent on drugs and alcohol. He has gone to therapy many times, and relapsed

many times. This story can show you that growing up with trauma, in this case, mental illnesses

in the home and unsafe living areas, can affect you long after the incidents.

Childhood trauma can affect everything from physical health through increasing the risk

for heart disease, strokes, chronic illnesses and more. It can also affect mental health by

increasing the risk for mental disorders and illnesses. It can affect emotional and behavioral
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health by increasing the chances of the victim being emotionally unstable and having more of a

likelihood to use harmful coping methods. It affects school and work by making daily tasks

difficult. It even makes maintaining relationships difficult through feelings of worthlessness and

hopelessness.

This picture shows the amount of Childhood trauma or adversities that occur in children

in ages ranging from birth to 17 years old. While 52.1% of US children report having no

experiences, 27.9% have had one or more.

All in all, Childhood trauma is a growing problem in our society, and can lead to major

consequences with health, stability, and relationships throughout life and way into adulthood.
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