Self-Improvement
7 Common Behaviors In Adults Who Went Through Trauma At A Young Age
Trauma in any human being, be it a kid or an adult, scars them for life. But it especially affects kids because they have an impressionable memory, and this gets etched onto it.
Remember Harry Potter? He had faced a trauma at the very death of his parents, which remained with him until he faced Voldemort. While that may be just a fantasy fiction literature, the reality is actually much darker.
Kids who suffer from a trauma early in their life, suffer from PTSD, which stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which leads to several problems.
1. Panic Attacks
Panic disorder is a common and treatable disorder. Children and adolescents with panic disorder have unexpected and repeated periods of intense fear or discomfort, along with other symptoms, such as a racing heartbeat or feeling short of breath. These periods are called “panic attacks” and last minutes to hours. Panic attacks frequently develop without warning. Children and adolescents with panic disorder may begin to feel anxious most of the time, even when they are not having panic attacks.
2. Not realizing Their Potential
They might believe that doing things beyond what is required might trigger the trauma back; which is why they only want to work as much as needed, without giving any extra effort, because they deem it to be the only way to be safe. They tend to hold themselves back and stay where they are comfortable because that way they feel safe.
3. Fear from Trauma
Fear and anxiety are two immediate reactions to a traumatic life-threatening event when your sense of control has disappeared. Your perception about safety, sense of the world you live in, and your beliefs about life are all questioned and the ground you walk on no longer feels solid. You may find yourself easily startled, overly alert, and generally feeling jittery. As a result of your experience, you now believe the world is not safe and your body is on steady alert. You may also find yourself thinking negative thoughts about people and life events and generalize these thoughts into a belief that you “cannot trust anyone” or “the world is a dangerous place.”
You will also like reading: 21 Things You Do as an Adult When You’ve Experienced Childhood Emotional Abuse
4. Social Withdrawal
Social withdrawal is avoiding people and activities you would usually enjoy. For some people, this can progress to a point of social isolation, where you may even want to avoid contact with family and close friends and just be by yourself most of the time. You may want to be alone because you feel it’s tiring or upsetting to be with other people. Sometimes a vicious cycle can develop where the more time you spend alone, the less you feel like people understand you. And the less you feel like people understand you, the more time you want to spend alone.
5. Passive-Aggressive
Sadly, this all-too-common response is ultimately reinforcing for the passive aggressive young person, whose inner belief that anger is dangerous is confirmed every time they see an adult lose emotional control. In this article, we’ll look at the origins of passive aggressive behavior and the five distinct—and increasingly pathological levels—at which it is typically carried out by children and adolescents.
You do not need to be a therapist to help children or adolescents deal with traumatic events. There are many steps supportive adults can take that can lead to recovery after the trauma. Remember, every child is different and every situation is different. There are many ways to help a child or adolescent handle a traumatic event.
How Childhood Trauma Can Make You A Sick Adult:
