The Things That Carry On
How childhood trauma manifests in adulthood
By Kora Quinn, Culture Staff Writer
As I get older, I find it more and more common to end up in conversations about the past. Where did you grow up? Who were you friends with? What do you miss the most about being a kid?
There are so many beautiful things about childhood that have made it a go-to topic with friends, both old and new. As kids, we were so imaginative and inquisitive, full of wonder in the most fundamental stage of life. And we were constantly learning, growing and experiencing new things, developing the characteristics that would ultimately follow us into adulthood.
But the awful truth is that not all childhoods are that picture-perfect time we can recall to relate and reminisce on as adults. Not all childhoods were beautiful, imaginative and full of wonder. In America, 66% of adults have experienced one or more Adverse Childhood Experience, a list of 10 traumatic events that occurred during childhood (C.D.C., 2019).
An Adverse Childhood Experience could be anything from bullying at school to caretaker abuse, emotionally or physically. The number of traumatic events, as well as the time exposed to them, can result in different types of trauma (Leonard, 2020). Acute trauma occurs when someone experiences a single stressful or dangerous event. Chronic trauma occurs when someone experiences repeated traumatic events with prolonged exposure. Lastly, complex trauma occurs when someone experiences multiple traumatic events.
For children, traumatic experiences affect their ability to process emotions and often cause symptoms that hinder their ability to perform well in school, such as trouble forming relationships with teachers, negative thinking and hypervigilance (Miller).
A psychologist at Destination Hope, an addiction treatment center, shared, “They [children with trauma] may live on eggshells, having become accustomed to a parent or caretaker lashing out. The result is sensitivity to each interaction and the moods of others, fearful that the individual fly into a rage. These children learn to adapt by withholding their own emotions and making waves. Masking their fear, anger and sadness” (M.H.C., 2019).
While traumatic experiences are often thought of as specific, stressful and dangerous events in a person’s life, clinical psychologist Jade Wu shared in Psychology Today that, “Complex trauma is not always about what happened to a person; it’s also about what did not happen. Perhaps the person wasn’t given basic respect or a sense of reliability from the adults in their lives” (2019).
Childhood trauma has serious and lasting effects that often surface subtly in adulthood. It’s the subtle ways a person thinks, reacts and relates to those around them. It can present itself in a person’s sense of self-worth — they might be extremely hard on themself, riddled with feelings of shame and guilt (M.H.C., 2019). It surfaces in their ability to handle conflict — they might shy away from arguments, or become emotionally stressed when others become upset or angry.
It even presents itself in a person’s ability to form and maintain relationships. One study found that childhood trauma can cause, “dysfunctional patterns of emotional closeness, intimacy, safety-seeking and building trust in romantic relationships due to their despaired attachment systems” (Yumbul et al., 2010).
As if that weren’t already enough, because of the severe emotional distress this trauma can cause in adulthood, it also affects one’s relationship with their sexuality, self-care, self-regulation, stability and even their understanding of time (Wu, 2019).
All of these symptoms can sometimes go unnoticed, but they affect nearly every aspect of one's life. Wu said, “Now, even if I miss the signs in the beginning, I can pick up on a patients’ underlying trauma because it always finds its way to the forefront. It’s not only about nightmares and flashbacks—complex childhood trauma affects the entire body and mind” (2019).
Sources:
Leonard, J. (2020) What is trauma? What to know. Medical News Today.
M.H.C. (2019) How Childhood Trauma Affects Us As Adults. Mental Health Center at Destination Hope.
Miller, C. How Trauma Affects Kids in School. Child Mind Institute.
(2019) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wu, J. (2019) Three Ways Childhood Trauma Affects Adulthood. Psychology Today.
Yumbul, C., Cavusoglu, S., Geyimci, Y. (2010) The effect of childhood trauma on adult attachment styles, infidelity tendency, romantic jealousy and self-esteem. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences.