Effects of Trauma on Childhood
I
first learned about the effects trauma can have on a child in my Child and
Adolescent Development in Context course that I am currently taking. I felt so
ignorant to the information I was learning on what trauma can do to a child. This
was where I first heard about ACEs which is Adverse Childhood Experiences. These
experiences include: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional
neglect, physical neglect, mentally ill, depressed, or suicidal person in the
home, drug addicted or alcoholic family member, witnessing domestic violence,
loss of a parent to death, abandonment by parental divorce, incarceration of
any family member for a crime, (Head Start, 2021). A child who endures these
adversities in their young life are greatly affected by them. Experiencing this
kind of trauma at a young age can result in attachment issues, biological
issues, affect regulation, dissociation, behavioral control, cognition, and
self-concept issues, (Parrish, 2022). Something I learned about the affects ACEs
can have on a child that really upsets me and makes me want to reprogram the entire
health system is how greatly it affects a child’s biology and health. According
to pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris, “In high doses, it affects brain development,
the immune system, hormonal systems, and even the way our DNA is read and
transcribed,” (Burke Harris, 00:28). She goes on to say that what she is talking about
is childhood trauma. The first thought I had when I learned about this was why
am I just now learning about this? I am a mother, I gave birth to my son five
years ago, and never not once did my doctor inform me about the affects trauma can
have on a child. Sure, they ask routine questions to screen if you are a mother
at risk but how many women answer those honestly? How many women admit they are
with an abusive partner without the fear that comes along after they have told
someone? Or admit they are unable to feed themselves without the risk of embarrassment?
Whether a pregnant woman is in a situation that puts them at risk or not, I truly
feel in my heart of hearts that all women giving birth to their child should
know about this information. I know too many children who have dealt with numerous
ACEs and never did I know what it was doing to their physical health. I also
know their parents don’t know what it did to their health as well.
I found a Youtube video that is short and to the point on information regarding trauma and the affect it has on a child. It even touches on how different races and their experience with the trauma they endure because of racism. It's a little over five minutes long and I think it does a good job of showing a visual on how trauma affects the body. Video
I
can apply this knowledge for my future career by being a safe place for a
child. I can use this information to know the signs of a child experiencing trauma
and offer help. I could also use this information to inform parents. I know if parents
are in a situation that is traumatic to their child, it is probably traumatic
to them, so I would learn how to go about addressing the situation. I hope to
be an elementary school teacher one day, and I know that means I would be a
mandated reporter and I would do so. I wouldn’t just tell someone else and have
it be their responsibility, I would advocate for the child and the parent/s. When
a child has a behavioral problem, it is best to intervene early on to change
that behavior. I think this can be applied to a child experiencing an ACE and
working to learn how to work through that trauma that comes with their experience.
I hate this kind of news, that this kind of
news exists. I went to Yahoo! to find a news article and came across a 14 year
old who was kidnapped at a park in Los Angeles and sexually assaulted in a
bathroom. The man threatened the child with a weapon and forced the survivor
into the restroom. In the video footage, the man can be seen with his arm
around the survivor as they are casually walking down the street. You can see the
way the man is holding the child doesn’t look natural in anyway either. Here is
the link to the article: https://www.yahoo.com/news/los-angeles-shocking-daylight-kidnapping-144158123.html
This child will probably suffer from PTSD immediately after the crime has taken place and it might stay with them for the distant future also. They might dissociate and experience dissociate amnesia. This is when the survivor is unable to remember details about the event that took place. Some consequences they could face in the future is having attachment issues, they might not feel safe around new people, or they might not trust that someone interested in them won’t hurt them. They could experience anxiety and depression as a result to this trauma.
As helping professionals we can be a safe
place for this survivor to talk about what happened. I think unless we were
trained in dealing with trauma, it would be best to just be a constant in this
child’s life to begin the healing process of building trust with others.
Letting them know they can trust us and that we are there to help them. If we
weren’t trained in dealing with trauma, we could offer support and resources.
One resource I found and liked from the resources we were given was the Skills
for Psychological Recovery (SPR) which, “…aims to help survivors gain skills to
manage distress and cope with post-disaster stress and adversity,” (NTCSN, no
date). It is designed to help anyone of any age reduce the distress an event
has given them and also cope effectively following that trauma. It utilizes, “skills-building
components,” which I think will be extremely helpful for a child who just
experienced a trauma. We have to learn how to do a lot of things in our life.
Parents, caregivers, or teachers teach us different skills that remain helpful throughout
our life. Skills on how to deal with the affects of trauma also need to be
learned and practiced in order to cope in a healthy way with what happened.
In placer county, Victim’s Assistance is a service
offered to all survivors of a crime. They offer assistance to numerous
different services and most importantly, it is free of charge. Some of the
services they offer that could be offered to a sexual assault survivor like the
one from my news story are counseling referrals and possibly transportation
assistance.
Their address is:
10810 Justice Center Drive
Suite 240
Roseville, CA 95678
Phone Number: 916-543-2594
Their hours are: Monday-Friday 8 AM-5 PM excluding
county holidays.
References
Burke Harris, N. (2015). How childhood trauma
affects health across a lifetime. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ovIJ3dsNk
No Author. (No Date). About SPR. The National
Child Traumatic Stress Network. https://www.nctsn.org/treatments-and-practices/psychological-first-aid-and-skills-for-psychological-recovery/about-spr
No Author. (2021). Trauma and Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs). Head Start. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/publication/trauma-adverse-childhood-experiences-aces
Parrish, R. (2022). Effects of Trauma on Brain
Development.
Wallace, D. (2022). Los Angeles shocking daylight
kidnapping of 14-year-old caught on camera before alleged park bathroom rape.
Yahoo! News. https://www.yahoo.com/news/los-angeles-shocking-daylight-kidnapping-144158123.html
Skye,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how reflective your post was and how you were able to Help the reader empathize with a mother in a difficult situation. I also really loved the Passion you expressed in spreading this knowledge. You did a fantastic job of presenting this as a family issue instead of just an individual issue. You bring a lot of Passion and fire to this field and I am excited for All of the individuals that you will come in contact with. I look forward to your future posts.
Cheri
This is Isabel blog from SheIsThatGirl:
ReplyDeleteThat’s so great to see that you were able to reflect that you were ignorant on learning on what trauma can do to a child in their early developmental years. It’s definitely a sensitive topic when it comes to children and they’re early on trauma and their cause of Kucharczyk super sad and sometimes triggering to hear about it and how they come to be later on have issues asked him to depression mental illness and addiction etc. it’s also great that you learned that how the Aces has an effect on the child I can agree because that a system is really crappy in a sense where is shortens the child needs by a huge chunk especially in America. As we see the system is everywhere and thank you so much for sharing your story of how you gave birth to your silent it was nice to know that you were able to reflect and you definitely got something out of this, and being so vulnerable and open with it. It’s also great that you couldn’t take away what you can do in the future for the better as we apply ourselves to work in the field of children thank you for sharing great blog post!
Hey Montana!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you had been able to connect this topic with your other courses. I also agree with you on how ignorant I was of how trauma affected one on so many levels. Especially the brain development. I simply thought some children were acting out rather than from the trauma they had faced and adapted to. I also agree with you on the point that more people should know about ACEs, specifically parents who wish to have or take in a child. Like the professor mentioned in class, adopting a child should require one to know that they have a high chance of not receiving/reciprocating love as their brain has been programmed differently after the trauma. I believe that you also did a great job describing the early and late symptoms that may appear from the types of cases a child may have from physical and emotional trauma (assault). I think my favorite part of your post was educating and spreading more awareness of ACEs in order to help intervene and provide children with solutions (e.g. coping strategies) from early stages. Great post!
Tina Duong
Hello,
ReplyDeleteYour post point out very interesting factor about the other arising issues that is caused from ACEs with medical health issues. I never knew that it could affect the health issues like the immune system or hormonal system; I always thought it would just be mental health issues. However there are also issues that affects the outside surface of childhood trauma with the living situations or education. The type of place that a child lives in affects a child physically and mentally with them joining the wrong type of people or doing things that can harm them in the future. I appreciate how we are able to learn about these issues and ways we can better the future children, and especially with how you said you are a mother and that it is important that we protect and care for the children. I feel that there are so many ways to cope with childhood trauma, however there is also the negative coping skills that other can fall into with harming themselves which is important that we help them get the right help.
When I read about how the hormonal system was affected by ACEs I was shocked. It really brought to my attention that what happens in childhood can determine not just how the child is as an adult but also influence a lot of their behavior. I don't think enough people think of the deeper level of why children act out, they just think they don't care or don't want to pay attention, but a lot could be affecting them from their environment. Thank you for sharing about how your experience was giving birth, because it makes me now think about how I should ask those questions myself when in that position. I'm glad I could learn from you with this post.
ReplyDelete