They’re free to explore the world around them and grow. They don’t have to suffer childhood emotional neglect or neglect of any kind. They don’t need to worry about putting in more effort to gain their carer’s approval. When a child’s physical and emotional needs are met, they feel safe and loved. Surely, if they were good enough, they would win their parents approval… right? They then believe something is wrong with them and that they’re not good enough. When a child’s needs are not met, they feel neglected and begin to try to charm their carers further. Some are abusive, argumentative, ignorant, or simply not capable of providing love and attention. Unfortunately, the charm isn’t enough for some parents. This particular power is utilised to ensure needs are met, such as being given food, clothes, shelter and attention.
Sometimes, it may be a case of consistent poor parenting over many years.Īll children have the marvellous power of charming those around them. It isn’t always about singular traumatic events. Photo by Lucas Pezeta from Pexels Poor parenting A child is also likely to experience trauma when witnessing robberies, war, terrorism, natural disasters and homes being destroyed. Losing a loved one is obviously also damaging. Witnessing disastersĪs previously mentioned, seeing a loved one being abused is a traumatic event. Seeing others affected by their illness or injury could further worsen any psychological damage. The child may be scared about their life if they’re dealing with a life-threatening experience. It could be that they’re going through a tremendous amount of physical pain. Illnesses and injuriesĮxperiencing a major illness or injury can be an extremely shocking event for a child. A lack of emotional support leads to childhood emotional neglect. It is just as important for a child to have emotionally available parents who comfort/support them when needed. Childhood emotional neglect (CEN)įood, clothes and shelter are not enough for a child.
Abuse and bullying can also take place at school. This isn’t only traumatic if the child themselves experience abuse, but if they witness a loved one facing abuse, such as a parent or sibling. The most common form of childhood trauma is abuse, such as physical and emotional abuse. Many of these traits may continue into adulthood. Teenagers may also try and grow dependent on alcohol and other drugs. Children may experience nightmares, develop antisocial behaviours, constantly feel guilt and shame and become anxious. For a child, this could be much more detrimental. It can cause negative long-term effects, making it difficult to move on. We all have different beliefs, environments, states of health and genetics, all of which could have a strong influence over how we’re able to deal with a traumatic event. You have to consider the individual and the severity of the traumatic event(s). How we’re affected by trauma varies from person to person. Trauma is the process of going through events that invoke high levels of negative emotions such as stress and fear. Events from your childhood and infancy may be the root causes of the biggest problems you face today. Think about it: since your birth, your life experiences, along with other factors, have shaped you into who you are today. We can often see childhood trauma in adults.īeing affected by childhood trauma during adulthood is not uncommon. Such experiences can cause extremely powerful emotions in a child, so much so that it could affect their thoughts, beliefs and behaviours for the rest of their lives. Two out of three children experience at least one traumatic event by the age of 16, according to SAMHSA.