Adults Who Went Through Trauma As A Child Tend To Have These 5 Behavioral Traits

Dec 14, 2018 by apost team

Childhood trauma can occur from many different situations. If a child experiences feeling helpless or insecure, that can trigger trauma. This includes verbal, sexual or physical abuse, separation from loved ones, unsafe environments, neglect, severe illness, bullying, and even medical procedures.

According to the study, "Association of Childhood Trauma Exposure With Adult Psychiatric Disorders and Functional Outcomes," published by a team of researchers in American Medical Association, when the child that experienced the trauma reaches the age of an adult, the trauma doesn't just go away. The brain grows the fastest from birth to 6 years old. When trauma occurs during this growth, it's usually not so easily removed or forgotten.

Most children that suffer from trauma aren't even aware of how it's affecting their life. This is because it's buried into their subconscious. Some people will attend therapy sessions where their memories from the trauma will resurface. This is a vital step to recovering from the trauma, but it can also be very overwhelming.

Here are five adult behaviors that of someone that experienced trauma as a child:

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A lot of times, trauma can contribute to Social Anxiety Disorders (SAD). The study, "An analysis of early developmental trauma in social anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder," published in The National Center for Biotechnology, examined individuals with Social Anxiety disorder to find a correlation with childhood traumas. Abuse from parents such as swearing, verbal aggression, denigrating, and insulting are related directly to the onset of anxiety disorders. This is also true with emotional neglect.

Withdrawal is not something that people usually seek out to do. It's usually found to occur when someone is anxious or scared. People with SAD tend to feel like others are watching them and judging constantly. This is why they prefer not to be around others. They want to avoid feeling this way altogether.

Both people with anxiety and those that are not anxious are continuing to learn. An anxious person struggles with unlearning events or lessons they have encountered while a person that doesn't have anxiety issues won't find this is a hard task for them.

For example:

Two different people received a review of their performance, and it wasn't positive. Now, they must meet with their manager to discuss their review.

The person that doesn't have issues with anxiety is going to perceive this as a neutral event and not be threatened by it unless they have been told otherwise. The person that struggles with anxiety will likely start to panic about meeting with the manager and receiving additional negative remarks.

It may even go as far as to consume them to the point where they can't think about anything else other than the meeting. They could even remain in this state of panic unless they are told otherwise.

You'll notice that trauma outside of the body can actually cause the flight or fight response to take place. Examples of this type of trauma would be stress, assault, and abuse. The stress hormones norepinephrine and cortisol will begin to flood into the body in order to take defense. When this is happening, the body will tense up.

One of the downfalls to this is that once the stress is resolved, the tension doesn't always go away. When the body becomes stressed and tensed, your brain's neural system will stay on alert and ready to react. It's not something that you can just turn off. It's an automatic response where your body wants to stay prepared for the unknown.

The study, "The Biological Effects of Childhood Trauma", published by Michael D. De Bellis (Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham NC) and Abigail Zisk A.B. in The National Center for Biotechnology, examines how a person who has suffered trauma as a child tends to have poor outcomes throughout life.

They usually don't excel in academic settings and this leads to them being presented with less opportunities in life than others. They also face not being able to make a livable wage because of this.

There has also been a likeness found between traumatic stress and socioeconomic status. It's 65% more likely that people who come from a past without opportunities are likely to have suffered trauma as a child.

It's normal to avoid the things that scare us, but people who suffer from trauma as a child usually take avoidance to the next level. Some people fear to go to the dentist, but they still go. This is because their brain knows that the benefits outweigh the fear they are feeling.

People that suffer trauma as a child tend to let fear rule their life and the way they live it. They may even schedule a dentist appointment because they do mean well but could give in to an impulse to avoid going. Their fear is crippling to them. They can't help but have a strong feeling of avoidance the second they feel threatened. This has a severe effect on the quality of their life.

If you know of any child that is being abused or maltreated, contact authorities or the child protective services in your area immediately.

The age isn't a determining factor as wounds can start to heal at any age. It may seem hard to seek out treatment but it's definitely worth it.

Here are 4 things that someone with a traumatic past can do to start the healing process.

You need to make the connection with others to maintain relationships. Try to avoid being alone.

Any physical activity always helps to relieve stress.

If your body is healthy, you can lower your stress easier, even the stress levels associated with trauma.

Be sure to get enough sleep, with a minimum of 7 hours each night. Try not to drink alcohol and avoid drugs. Make smart choices when eating and try to keep it balanced. This can all help with reducing stress.

You can feel very stressed and anxious but still, control your body. Lower your arousal levels by being mindful of your breathing. You can even do meditation. Try taking 60 breaths and concentrating on the exhale of each breath.

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Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!