Impact of Childhood Trauma

Introduction

The long term impact of major childhood trauma and abuse on an individual's psyche, physical health, and social skills can be debilitating in adulthood. People with a history of trauma, particularly neglect or abuse, have a stronger likelihood of developing one or more depressive disorders such as Schizoid Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Paranoid PersonalityDisorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder just to name a few (Feerick, M., & Snow, K. 2005, December, p.409(4) ). However, such observation has not yet been organized into a clear state that specifies how and why these abusive events result in this kind of traumatic impact. This paper explores the question: how does childhood trauma affect psychological problems later in life. A number of studies have found that persons who have experienced childhood trauma are more likely to be diagnosed with a personality disorder in adulthood. Based on four research articles, an introductory review of the impacts of childhood trauma on later life is supplied, followed by a discussion of interventions to early recognition and recovery from post traumatic effects.

Long term effects

Due to the unrevealed nature of abuse, it is difficult to decide precisely how large of a problem childhood abuse really is. A single trauma in a child's developmental stages can in some cases affect them later in life. However, it is far more frequent for chronic trauma to cause long term contradictory impact on the individual. A table constructed for this paper(see table, p.10) shows the frequency of the type of trauma in childhood and adulthood (Briere, J. (1992). Child abuse trauma: Theory and treatment of the lasting effects.Newbury Park, CA: Sage).To further complicate issues, it has been found that the abuse exacerbates the implications of long term health impact and psychological impact (Arata, Langhinrichsen-Rohlig, Bowers & O'Farrill-Swails, 2005).

The first and most apparent impact that childhood trauma can have is on the psychological development of the child, with the potential of carrying forward these psychological symptoms into later life. What is worse probably, is that as a person gets older, the resulting psychological issues of chronic trauma can grow and more difficult to treat as time goes on, setting these conditions firmly into the psyche of the person., Feerick, M., & Snow, K. (2005, December). state that according to research done by Raczek in 1992, "abused subjects were twice as likely as non abused subjects to have personality disorders" (2005, p. 410).

Individuals with a history of trauma, particularly abuse or neglect, have a strong possibility of developing one or more depressive disorders such as Borderline Personality

Disorder, Paranoid Personality Disorder, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder just to name a few. These individuals have a high likelihood to have much lower self esteem than their peers, and are at high risk of developing major phobias and high, sometimes debilitating anxiety levels (Arata, Langhinrichsen-Rohlig, Bowers & O'Farrill-Swails, 2005).

The second obvious impact that childhood trauma can have on an individual's longterm development is in their social functioning skills. According to Arata, et al., child abuse is "related to greater homicidal ideation, legal problems, accidents, animal cruelty, sexual behaviors, and running away behavior" (2005, p. 33). Furthermore, they are of the opinion that legal problems are more common of victims of physical abuse than any other abuse type. Paradoxically, victims sexually abused as a child tend to have a stronger level of sexual activity at younger ages, and also have a potential to get involved in higher sexual risk taking activities regardless of their consequences (p.39).

These victims also has a stronger occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies, particularly due to an increased probability to engage in unprotected sex with multiple partners (Arata, et al.,2005, p.39 ). These kinds of activities tend to make the victim's peers treat the individual with lower respect and can even cause peer maltreatment and teasing which further decreases the victim's already low self esteem, conversely causing them to act out with more activities of a social degenerative nature.

"Upbringing of a child in an environment of persistent threat may have an altered baseline of fear and physiological status so that a condition of internal calm is rarely obtained. As they grow up, many of these children feel that they can induce a more relaxed conditions by self-medicating with substances such as drugs, cigarettes and alcohol" (as cited in Mulvihill, 2005, p. 120).

As illustrated by Arata, et al. use of drugs is a never ending problem associated with victims of child abuse, and is often started with adolescence (p.41). The higher the need to feel normal, harsher and more addictive drugs are more likely to be abused, combining both prescription medications and illegal drugs. The stronger the addiction to these drugs, the more the user falls into the trap of society's non acceptance (Feerick, M., & Snow, K. 2005, p. 417).

The third major long-term impact of childhood trauma and abuse is specifically the relation of childhood trauma to physical health concerns. Research has shown a strong correlation between childhood trauma and psychological difficulties in later life (Feerick, M., & Snow, K. 2005, p.419). Research has also indicated that the long-term effects are even greater for physical illness(idem,p.423). These long-term effects have brought forward Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a possible mediator variable (Schwartz and Perry, 1994,p.318 ). "The physical illnesses identified include, but are not limited to, substance abuse irritable bowel syndrome, phobias, multiple personality disorders, eating disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune disorders" (Mulvihill, 2005, p. 115).

In reviewing the research, it has been found that although it is not possible to precisely determine how common the occurrence of major childhood trauma and abuse is, the number of known cases and the resulting appraisal of unreported occurrence is overwhelming. The long-term effects of major childhood trauma and abuse on an individual's psyche, social skills, and physical health can be debilitating in later life (Schwartz and Perry, 1994, p.321). Serious psychological issues can cripple an abuse victim's ability to function and lead a normal life. Low self esteem and drugs abuse are major social concerns for these individuals, as well as