The Lingering Effects of Childhood Trauma

Predisposition for Mental Health Disorders

Surviving a childhood trauma will leave some version of a wound or scar. At such a young age, you most likely won’t have the proper tools to understand or process through your experience. That experience then remains with you into adolescence and adulthood. Maybe you have avoided it because it is difficult to face. Maybe you were taught to suppress it down deep inside.

As you get older and enter new phases of life, those suppressed emotions and feelings will start to work their way into other areas. Random situations may trigger them, or similar situational elements can pry them out. 

Prolonged suppression of your emotions or lingering negative feelings can snowball into more significant problems. Anxiety, depression, and PTSD may begin to develop on top of old wounds. 

Lasting Effects on Physical Health

As with most traumatic events, they leave behind strong feelings and emotions. Having to deal with or bury them down can become quite stressful. Most people know that stress is nobody’s friend. From childhood to adulthood, that can be a lot of stress to carry. 

Stress affects your immune system’s ability to operate, making you more prone to illness and ailments. It can cause new chronic conditions to form. There is also a likelihood of GI and stomach issues.

Unfortunately, if you have pre-existing chronic conditions from your youth, it can take a toll on your body and make you more symptomatic. Additional factors that can be impacted by high levels of stress include sleep, nutrition, and hydration. 

Hypervigilance

Whether you have a clear understanding of your traumatic experience or you have some gaps in your memory, either way, it can affect the mind. You may find yourself reacting in a way that is uncharacteristic and unexpected in response to a trigger. Your natural response becomes affected in its own way.

Childhood traumas can cause you to constantly look over your shoulder or wait for the other shoe to drop. This state of hypervigilance, or excessive worrying, is difficult to shut off. As it continues to fester, you may find yourself developing panic attacks or anxiety attacks. They can occur when you least expect them and over instances that wouldn’t normally warrant such a response. 

Future Relationship Struggles

When you’ve survived a childhood trauma, it can create a rift in future relationships of any kind. The weight of what you experienced or the shame you carry can make it difficult to open up to others around you. 

If you were abused as a child, you probably have carried some distrust towards adult figures. As you age, that distrust transfers towards romantic and intimate partners. Intimacy itself may trigger you even when it’s with someone you care about. You may find yourself entering into relationships that aren’t sustainable due to the baggage that you carry from your previous life experiences. 

Childhood trauma is an unfair and unfortunate circumstance, but it doesn’t need to define who you are forever. Acknowledging your experience and owning your feelings is the start of healing. Freedom can be found in processing through your lived experience. If you’re ready to start this journey, contact us to learn more.