Experiencing trauma during childhood can profoundly influence a person’s well-being later in life. The long-term impact can manifest in various ways, affecting emotional, mental, and even physical health. To show you what we mean, here are 19 ways in which childhood trauma can harm an adult’s life.
Depression
Depression can be a harsh consequence of a tragic childhood, and it’s shockingly common, with the Office for National Statistics estimating that 9 in 10 British adults have reported having at least mild depression symptoms. Obviously, the roots of these cases range greatly, but suffering early in life is one of the major contributing factors.
Anxiety
Anxiety in an adult can stem from anxiety that was never well-managed when the person was a child. Some children suffer from anxiety from very young ages because of the traumatic ways that they’re treated. Many of them carry this trauma with them all their lives.
Optimism
It’s a sad fact of life that there’s a lot of negativity going around these days, but why are so many of us struggling to be optimistic? Well, childhood trauma can make it hard for a person to feel positive about things when life has already been so tragic.
Self-Esteem
According to Verywell Mind, self-esteem is your overall sense of personal value and self-worth. Many adults have low self-esteem because of the trauma that they went through as children. They feel like the bad things that happened were their fault, and this makes them have a low opinion of themselves even now.
Nightmares
Nightmares and tragic flashbacks from the past can terrorize those who have had a difficult upbringing. Researchers suggest that around 35–45% of people experience at least one nightmare per month, notes Healthline. Many of those nightmares are triggered by the reminder of a harrowing past.
Trust
If you grew up in a traumatic environment where you couldn’t trust others, this can affect you later in life. It can make it difficult for you to trust people, even when their intentions are genuine. Having trust issues can make adulthood feel very lonely.
Friendships
We all need close friends to share our lives with. According to 2021 survey data, Cross River Therapy states that the average person has between three and five close friends. However, a traumatic childhood can make it difficult to form close friendships and let people in.
Relationships
If you suffered from a difficult upbringing, you might find it hard to begin romantic relationships as an adult. You might be tempted to see the slightest personal imperfection as a red flag and turn potential relationships away before you’ve given them a chance.
Lack of Goals
Only 20% of people set goals for themselves, says Goals Calling. People who have had a traumatic childhood may find it even trickier to set goals. This is because they’ve been let down so many times that they feel like things will never get better.
Worthlessness
Feelings of worthlessness can be very destructive. They’re often driven by traumatic experiences from our childhood that make us feel like we aren’t worth anything and deserve every bad experience that we went through. These entrenched feelings of worthlessness can drag on into our adult lives.
Support
Suffering from trauma in the past might make it hard for you to support others who are going through difficult circumstances in the present. Seeing others suffer can bring back memories of your own hardship and draw you away from your friends when they need you the most.
Expression
We all need friends we can open up to and express our feelings. But if you were never able to express yourself freely as a child, you’ll find it hard to open up to others as an adult. Letting others in and showing vulnerability are behaviors you’ll have to learn.
Doubt
A traumatic childhood can make it hard for many adults to make decisive decisions. This is because they’re so afraid of suffering in the same way they did before that they’ll avoid any situation that looks dubious. There’s no such thing as taking a risk for these adults, and they doubt all the decisions they make.
Problems With Emotional Management
Children who go through troubling experiences often have emotional issues from an early age. When these emotional issues aren’t addressed, they escalate. As the child turns into an adult, they find it very difficult to manage their emotions and are constantly on an emotional rollercoaster.
Poor Communication
If you lived in a household where people were constantly arguing with one another, you might find it difficult to recognize what normal communication is as an adult. You may think that screaming and shouting is the right way to work through problems and feel inclined to do so when things don’t go your way.
Violence
Children, especially boys who are subject to violence, tend to become violent adults if they don’t receive therapy and emotional training. As an adult, the person is simply acting according to the behavioral patterns they saw as a child, where violence was used to get a point across.
Substance Abuse
To cope with the distress of childhood trauma, some adults are drawn to addictive behaviors such as substance abuse. They do this to forget about their problems. If such adults aren’t helped to talk through their past, they can end up in an endless spiral of self-destructive behavior.
Self-Harm
Self-harm is becoming more and more common around the world. It’s often practiced by those who are trying to find an outlet for the pain they felt during their tragic childhood. These people use their physical pain as a distraction from their emotional pain.
Parenthood
Adults who suffered a lot as children often find it hard to become nurturing, loving parents, as these qualities were never shown to them when they were young. Their children can end up growing up in a loveless environment as a result of the adult’s unresolved trauma.