Psychological Trauma in Childhood

Sonya Lyons^*
*Correspondence: Sonya Lyons, Department of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, Email:

Description

Trauma can result in a wide range of emotional and physical symptoms. Traumatic events will not only leave physical scars, but they often leave psychological ones too. Psychological trauma is a reaction to an event that an individual observes highly stressful like being in a war zone, a natural disaster, sexual assaults, or an accident. Not every individual who experiences a stressful event will develop Psychological trauma, some people may develop symptoms that resolve after a few weeks, while others will have more long-term effects. These imprints can affect a child’s mental and physical health for years. Psychological Trauma can leave a stamp at any age, but a child who experiences an adverse event under the age of 8 years may be particularly are at higher risk. Not every child experiences trauma the same way but some kids can bounce back from major stressors while others are more affected by things that seem less severe. If a child has any past trauma can affect their physical health. A child who faces traumatic events has a greater chance of developing health conditions like cancer, diabetes, heart problems, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. As much as parents try to support their children from all kinds of frightening and dangerous or lifethreatening events, they may still struggle with mental and emotional trauma. This can sometimes stay with them for the duration of their lives. Most of the time traumatic events may directly involve the child as any scary, dangerous or violent event that poses a threat to the physical safety, well-being, or bodily integrity of a child. These experiences can trigger strong physical, psychological, and emotional responses, which may persist long after the event passes. Many children can develop child traumatic stress like an emotional response to childhood trauma that may affect their daily lives and emotional well-being for many years or even.

With treatment, any individual can address the root cause of the trauma and can find their own constructive ways to manage their symptoms. Many do recover well with a proper support system and do not experience long-term problems. However, after experiencing a traumatic event, some people will go on to develop challenges directly following the event or within a few months of the event. Psychological, physical, or emotional trauma is damage or injury to the psyche after living through an extremely frightening or distressing event and may result in facing many challenges in functioning or coping normally after the event. There are some common psychological traumatic symptoms like Loss of memory and concentration abilities, Nightmares, Mood swings, Confusion, Intrusive thoughts of the event that may occur out of the blue, Visual images of the event. Behavioral symptoms are Lack of interest in previously enjoyable activities and avoidance of activities or places that trigger memories of the event. Physical symptoms are easily scared, nervousness, insomnia, Sexual dysfunction, Tachycardia, Tremendous fatigue and exhaustion, Chronic muscle patterns, Changes in sleeping and eating patterns, vague complaints of aches and pains throughout the body. Psychological symptoms are emotional numbing, overwhelming fear, depression, emotional shock, disbelief, irritability, feeling shy when they were around other people, Obsessive and compulsive behaviors, panic attacks, anger, and anxiety.

Many people will notice that their feelings dissipate over the course of a few days or weeks and many can experience strong physical and emotional reactions immediately after facing a traumatic stress event. However, for many individuals, the symptoms of psychological trauma may be increasingly severe and last longer. This may be the result of the nature of the traumatic event, availability of emotional support, past and present life stressors disorders, personality types, and available coping mechanisms. Meditation is one of the best treatments to overcome this kind of disorder in many cases, which can provide an opportunity to increase present-moment awareness, as opposed to constantly dwelling on the past. Mindfulness meditation can increase self-compassion and also improve the individual’s ability to self-regulate. While in other cases, a psychiatric nurse practitioner or other medical professional may recommend medications to help cope with some of the effects of childhood trauma. Depending upon the patient’s specific symptoms, antianxiety medications and antidepressants may both be viable options.