Ptsd In Adults From Childhood Trauma

Who Is It For

• Healthcare professionals
• Other professionals who work with people at risk of or who have PTSD, including in criminal justice and education services and non-government organisations
• Commissioners and providers, including directors of public health, NHS trust managers and managers in clinical commissioning groups
• People at risk of or who have PTSD , their families and carers, and the public

What Are The Symptoms Of Post

The following are the most common symptoms of PTSD. However, each child may experience signs differently.

Children and adolescents with PTSD experience extreme emotional, mental, and physical distress when exposed to situations that remind them of the traumatic event. Some may repeatedly relive the trauma in the form of nightmares and disturbing recollections during the day and may also experience any, or all, of the following:

• Sleep disturbances

• Feeling jittery or “on guard”

• Being easily startled

• Loss of interest in things they used to enjoy detachment general lack of responsiveness feeling numb

• Trouble feeling affectionate

• Irritability, more aggressive than before, or even violent

• Avoiding certain places or situations that bring back memories

• Flashbacks or intrusive images

• Losing touch with reality

• Reenactment of an event for a period of seconds or hours or, very rarely, days

• Problems in school difficulty concentrating

• Worry about dying at an early age

• Regressive behaviors acting younger than their age

• Physical symptoms

Childhood Ptsd Can Be Complex Ptsd:

Complex PTSD, or C-PTSD, describes traumatic events that are chronic, long-lasting or repeated. While PTSD usually results from a short-lived traumatic event, C-PTSD is generally associated with individuals who have experienced some variation of physical or emotional captivity. This is usually a result of childhood sexual and/or physical abuse or domestic violence, however, it can also result from any series of events in which the victim cannot escape the control of another person.

In children, C-PTSD often occurs before the childs cognitive abilities and sense of self have fully developed, thus affecting the way the brain and communication systems will eventually develop. In children with C-PTSD, the brain learns to constantly assume and respond to small signs of possible threat. As a result, the body is constantly flooded with adrenaline and cortisol.

Since fighting back or running away rarely is an option, the child will instead shut down, dissociate, and freeze. However, the adrenaline and cortisol continue throughout the body, affecting the immune system, digestive system, and possibly causing psychosomatic symptoms to develop.

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Childhood Trauma In Adults

The SAMHSAs National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative reports that by the age of 16, two-thirds of children report experiencing at least one traumatic event. According to the American Psychological Association, A traumatic event is one that threatens injury, death, or the physical integrity of self or others and also causes horror, terror, or helplessness at the time it occurs.

This can encompass many different situations and may be different for each person that comes in contact with that event.

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Other Signs Of Childhood Trauma In Adults

Exposure to traumatic events can also cause poor self-esteem, depression, self-destructive behavior, and even difficulty trusting others. This can become especially problematic with age, as PTSD and traumatic events from childhood can actually result in adverse health effects in adulthood.

According to a Cleveland Clinic podcast,adults who experienced trauma as kids are much more susceptible to depression and mood disorders, as well as thoughts of suicide. They are also likely to abuse alcohol and other substances. Finally, they are more prone to developing chronic illnesses, like diabetes and heart disease, later in life.

The higher likelihood of developing chronic illness is potentially due to the fact that adults who experienced trauma as children are more likely to engage in high-risk activities like smoking.

This podcast also explained that doctors are researching the possibility that understanding someone’s past and their relation to trauma can lead to better treatment that could help in the prevention of these diseases and symptoms. It’s even possible that these traumas impacted the brain in a specific way.

Recognizing how the brain has been impacted could lead to advancements in treatment when it comes to therapy and medical intervention.

Symptoms Of Childhood Trauma In Adulthood

Childhood trauma is a life event that may affect people through adulthood. Studies¹ show that between 14 and 43% of women and 15 and 43% of men experience at least one trauma during childhood.

After a person faces a childhood trauma, they may have to deal with its consequences as adults. The effects of traumatic events influence people in different ways. Some may face socialization issues.

Others may have to battle addictions or develop chronic illnesses. Let’s take a closer look at signs of childhood trauma in adults.

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What I Found Was That While Ptsd And Cptsd May Seem Similar There Are Huge Differences

PTSD is a mental health condition thats triggered by a single traumatic life event. A person with a PTSD diagnosis is someone who has either witnessed an event or has participated in some type of traumatic event, and afterward is experiencing flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety regarding the event.

Traumatic events can be difficult to define. Some events may not be as traumatic for some individuals as they are for others.

According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, trauma is the lasting emotional response that results from living through a distressing event. But that doesnt mean that trauma cant be chronic and ongoing, which is where we find instances of CPTSD.

What Does Ptsd Look Like In Children

As in adults, PTSD in children and adolescence requires the presence of re-experiencing, avoidance and numbing, and arousal symptoms. However, researchers and clinicians are beginning to recognize that PTSD may not present itself in children the same way it does in adults. Criteria for PTSD include age-specific features for some symptoms.

Elementary school-aged children

Clinical reports suggest that elementary school-aged children may not experience visual flashbacks or amnesia for aspects of the trauma. However, they do experience “time skew” and “omen formation,” which are not typically seen in adults.

Time skew refers to a child mis-sequencing trauma-related events when recalling the memory. Omen formation is a belief that there were warning signs that predicted the trauma. As a result, children often believe that if they are alert enough, they will recognize warning signs and avoid future traumas.

School-aged children also reportedly exhibit posttraumatic play or reenactment of the trauma in play, drawings, or verbalizations. Posttraumatic play is different from reenactment in that posttraumatic play is a literal representation of the trauma, involves compulsively repeating some aspect of the trauma, and does not tend to relieve anxiety.

An example of posttraumatic play is an increase in shooting games after exposure to a school shooting. Posttraumatic reenactment, on the other hand, is more flexible and involves behaviorally recreating aspects of the trauma .

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What Makes Kids So Vulnerable To Ptsd

It makes sense that children are probably much more prone to PTSD than their parents. Kids dont have the emotional maturity and defense mechanisms in place that can help protect adults from trauma, and children cant prevent themselves from experiencing events that are simply out of their control. Furthermore, childrens brains are not as developed as adults, rendering them more susceptible. One study noted that 26 percent of kids either experience or witness a traumatic event before turning 4 years old. At that age, trauma can become internalized, and those buried incidents might rise to the surface months or even years down the line.

How Ptsd And C

Since children are often unable to understand that their bodys response is a reaction to chronic trauma, their behavior patterns follow them into adulthood, even when their environment is seemingly safe. As a result of responding to constant trauma, their stress response is hyperactive and causes an increase of adrenaline and cortisol at the slightest perceived threat.

This can cause problems in personal relationships and in the workplace. It can also cause individuals to try and override the stress response by indulging in high levels of drugs, alcohol, spending, sex, and working. Others inadvertently try to recreate the traumatic childhood event through behaviors or relationships either because it is familiar or because they are trying to fix it.

Often times, individuals who have undergone some form of chronic childhood trauma experience problems regulating their emotions. This can be exhibited through severe depression, suicidal thoughts, or problems controlling their anger.

They may also view themselves as being different from others which can cause feelings of detachment, helplessness, shame, and guilt. They will also likely view their perpetrator in one of two ways. Either they will view themselves as having no power over their perpetrator, or they will have obsessive thoughts about their relationship with the perpetrator. Finally, they will view the world with lost faith in humanity and a feeling of dread for the future.

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The Lasting Effects Of Childhood Trauma

Current Psychiatry

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral HealthRosalind Franklin University of Medicine and ScienceNorth Chicago, Illinois

Associate Chief Medical Officer, Adult ServicesSeven Counties Services Louisville, Kentucky

DisclosuresThe authors report no financial relationships with any companies whose products are mentioned in this article, or with manufacturers of competing products.

Evidence-based interventions can help address PTSD, other symptoms in adulthood.

What Can Parents And Legal Guardians Do To Help

Compassion and understanding can go a long way toward helping kids recover from PTSD. On the other hand, denial and anger directed at children suffering from mental health issues can be destructive and lead to withdrawal and more negative behaviors. If your child is exhibiting any of the symptoms weve listed above, take them seriously and seek professional help. Waiting for a solution to work itself out could lead to a lifetime of regrets and even compound or trigger additional mental illnesses. You may be able to find immediate help at Mental Health Match, which offers a directory of Michigan therapists you can contact directly. Or, if your situation demands an instant response, there are several Michigan-based crisis hotlines available to assist you day or night.

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Traumas Effect On Stability Guilt And Shame

Childhood trauma chips away at a childs stability and sense of self, undermining self-worth and often staying with the child into adulthood. This trauma can also impact a person into adulthood as they experience feelings of shame and guilt, feeling disconnected and unable to relate to others, trouble controlling emotions, heightened anxiety and depression, anger.

Lets take the case of complex trauma that occurs directly to the child and disrupts their sense of safety and stability. If a child is abused emotionally, physically or sexually, by someone close to them, often a caregiver, it can condition the way the child forms attachments later in life. They may start to see protectors and caretakers through a different filter, no longer trusting those individuals to keep them safe or even care about them. Once a childs sense of identity is fractured, it takes years of work to rebuild those broken pieces and have them regain trust.

Symptoms Of Childhood Trauma In Adults

There are a number of different ways in which symptoms can manifest for adults living with childhood trauma. Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut recipe to follow when diagnosing an adult with immediate signs of trauma, however, there may be some common physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of trauma victims. Listed below are just a few common warning signs of childhood trauma in adults:

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Childhood Ptsd Vs Childhood Traumatic Stress

Childhood PTSD is a clinical diagnosis with specific symptoms outlined in the DSM-5.

Childhood traumatic stress is a phrase used to describe symptoms of distress from a traumatic experience that dont meet DSM-5 criteria but still impacts how a child moves forward in life.

All children with PTSD will experience childhood traumatic stress, but not all children with childhood traumatic stress will be diagnosed with PTSD.

How Childhood Trauma Affects Us As Adults

Childhood. The very word draws up images of innocence, joy, optimism and wonder. Childhood is a time of security being protected and loved. Having stability in knowing you are protected by your family allows you to form solid and safe relationships later in life. This is the ideal definition and experience of childhood. However, the reality of many children experiences and the effect on the rest of their lives is in stark contrast to this idealized expectation.

Childhood trauma can take many forms

• Physical or sexual abuse
• Having a severe illness requiring surgery and hospitalization
• Witnessing domestic violence
• Experiencing intense bullying
• Even extreme situations like refugee trauma and experiencing a large-scale natural disaster.

We, as adults, are often unable to process these life events. Imagine the scale and scope through a childs eyes, trying to process the nuances of these experiences. And trying to understand their role in their occurrence. Children do not filter information through the prism of education, socialization, and life experience as we do. Often times, they blame themselves because they have no other point of reference of why these events occur.

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Symptoms Of Ptsd In Children And Teenagers

Child Mind says these are the changes in behaviour you should be looking out for:

• Trouble sleeping
• Headaches or stomachaches
• Acting out the upsetting event during playtime

If you have very young children another common sign that something is wrong is that they may start wetting the bed again, stop speaking, or be afraid of leaving your side.

Teens may feel guilty or try to hurt themselves.

Kids Health adds that most kids and teens with PTSD will:

• have upsetting thoughts of the trauma
• have bad dream or sleep problems
• have bad memories, called flashbacks, that make it seem like the trauma is still happening
• avoid things that remind them of the trauma
• be more easily startled, scared, or anxious
• feel more moody, sad, angry, or not enjoy things as before
• not remember some parts of what happened

They also say, ‘Younger children may show more fearful and regressive behaviors They may re-enact the trauma through play. When symptoms like these happen in the first days and weeks after the trauma, it may be called an acute stress reaction. Doctors diagnose PTSD when symptoms last longer than a month.’

Cognition: Thinking And Learning

Children with complex trauma histories may have problems thinking clearly, reasoning, or problem solving. They may be unable to plan ahead, anticipate the future, and act accordingly. When children grow up under conditions of constant threat, all their internal resources go toward survival. When their bodies and minds have learned to be in chronic stress response mode, they may have trouble thinking a problem through calmly and considering multiple alternatives. They may find it hard to acquire new skills or take in new information. They may struggle with sustaining attention or curiosity or be distracted by reactions to trauma reminders. They may show deficits in language development and abstract reasoning skills. Many children who have experienced complex trauma have learning difficulties that may require support in the academic environment.

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Absolutely Not: And Other Thoughts You Might Have About Mental Health Support

After youve been through very frightening experiences, asking for help and getting mental health support can feel scary or overwhelming. Sometimes it might feel like there is no one that could possibly help. This video talks about getting mental health support after trauma, and why, even if it feels hard, it can be helpful.

Signs Of Ptsd In Children

After exposure to any traumatic event, kids tend to express some form of behavioral change. These behaviors are still regularly reported by mental health professionals in their daily practices with adults. These behavioral changes could include:

• Sudden new fears: These fears may or may not be related to the traumatic event.
• : Occurs when a child becomes overwhelmed with anxiety if their parents are not around.
• Sleep disturbances: This could mean that they start having nightmares or lose the ability to fall asleep quickly.
• Sadness: If you notice that you or a loved one is feeling down much more often, it may be a sign that they’re coping with a traumatic event.
• Losing interest in normal activities: A child may lose interest in things they once enjoyed.
• Inability to concentrate: This could be long or short-term and impact things like school, work, or normal activities.
• Anger: Unexplained anger, or irritability that doesn’t match up to the level of the event, can be a sign of a traumatic event.
• Somatic complaints: These can include stomachaches, headaches, or any other physical pains that seem to have no root cause.

It’s important to note that many of these symptoms go away with time, however, the risk of PTSD does increase if the child is repeatedly exposed to trauma or has a history of anxiety issues.

In addition to those symptoms, children who are experiencing PTSD may also exhibit hypervigilance in an effort to look for warning signs to prevent future traumas.

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