|
|
TRAUMA
Physical and sexual abuse cause psychological trauma; so does neglect and emotional abuse. Children are especially unprepared to cope with psychological trauma; and the effects last long after a person has become an adult.
Children are not small adults who haven't yet learned what an adult knows. A child's brain is fundamentally different than an adult's; the child doesn't have an adult's coping mechanisms.
An adult with an abuse history has a strong tendency to think that his/her way of thinking was the same when s/he was a child. S/he questions his/her childhood motivations and behaviors and continues to blame his/herself for the current day feelings and behaviors. The consequences spill over into current relationships.
Psychological trauma puts a person at risk for a variety of emotional problems, including:
- Dissociative disorders with trance-like feelings and/or loss of time (pathological dissociation);
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder);
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) possibly caused by a near catastrophic life event (to you or others in your life);
- Any of several pervasive personality traits including narcissism, antisocial, borderline, and dependent.
The emotional consequences of neglect & abuse can also include:
- Diagnoses such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), etc.; and often include a history of mis-diagnoses;
- Addictions (which include eating disorders and self-harm). An addiction can be viewed as a way to avoid or distract oneself from uncomfortable or intolerable feelings;
- Suicidal thoughts, shame, feelings of worthlessness, intense self-blame, & and an inability to tolerate feelings and internal conflicts;
- A pattern of self-destructive & out-of-control behaviors;
- Difficulty managing feelings of anger, sadness, shame and rage; feeling impulsive and out of control;
- All-or-nothing thinking; distorted thinking, including feeling that you are somehow a really 'bad' person;
- Intrusive thoughts, images, feelings; disturbing and perhaps vivid recollections of abuse; flashbacks;
- Issues affecting a person's ability to manage relationships including volatile relationships and being easily hurt by others.
|
|
