The Effects Of Child Abuse On A Child 's Brain Structure

Childhood abuse is obviously very traumatic. Most times child abuse victims suffer of mental disorders like PTSD, Attachment Disorder, Chemical Dependency, and Maladaptive Disorder. When victims of child abuse encounter PTSD, “Anxiety disorder, depression, and social anxiety are all common symptoms in PTSD,” my mother, a Medical Intensive Care nurse says. Touching on the subject of attachment disorder, she says “Attachment Disorder Victims can't form relationships, they can not form a bond, they feel like everyone that everyone they once trusted, betrayed them.” Chemical Dependency is one of the most common disorders my mother has seen in her patients. “Many victims of traumatic

Children who have been abused are left with more than just physical scars. They have many psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems as well. Their social lives are affected dramatically, and they suffer lifelong effects. (Lambert) Children tend to

In 2013 an estimated 679,000 children were victims of maltreatment and approximately 3.1 million children received help from Childhood Protective Services in the United States alone. Abuse or neglect can be categorized as maltreatment, which takes many different forms from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and parental neglect. It is accepted that childhood maltreatment has lasting effects as the victims grow into adults. One example of these effects is behavioral

Trauma is perceived as a physical or psychological threat or assault to a person’s physical integrity, sense of self, safety and/or survival or to the physical safety of a significant other; family member, friend, partner. (Kilpatrick, Saunders, and Smith, 2003). An adolescent may experience trauma from a variety of experiences, including but not limited to: abuse (sexual, physical, and/or emotional); neglect; abandonment; bullying; exposure to domestic violence and/ or community violence; natural disasters; medical procedures; loss/grief due to a death of a family member(s); surgery; accidents or serious illness; and war (Kilpatrick, Saunders, and Smith, 2003).

Sixty percent of adults report experiencing abuse or other difficult family circumstances during childhood. (Mental Health Connection, N.D.). This shocking statistic exemplifies the high prevalence of childhood trauma. Furthermore, twenty-six percent of children in the United States will witness or experience a traumatic event before the age of four. (Mental Health Connection, N.D.) Trauma is an extremely common and complex phenomenon. But what is trauma? According to Merriam Webster, trauma is defined as, “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.” (Merriam Webster, 2017). Dr. Lenore C. Terr from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of America further describes trauma as unique to each individual. It can be caused by a series of events or one severe incident. Unfortunately, childhood trauma is usually experienced repeatedly. For example, many children endure sexual abuse, bullying, and severe family problems over and over again. Children may experience a variety of traumas that have lasting consequences on their mental health. Those who experience childhood trauma are more likely to develop psychological disorders. This occurs because their brains lack neuroplasticity, which inhibits their ability to adapt to various stressful circumstances.

Trauma is defined as “Any event (or events) that may cause or threaten death, serious injury, or sexual violence to an individual, a close family member, or a close friend” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These horrifying experiences leave individuals scarred and mentally shaken for an extensive period. However, what happens when it occurs in one of the most influential periods of mental development? Childhood development is a critical time in a person’s

In general, traumatic events effects children throughout different times in their adolescence (Alisic, 2012; Deihl, 2013; Little & Little, 2013; Walkey & Cox, 2013). For example, the Mental Health of Tarrant County (2012) revealed that “26% will witness or experience a traumatic event before they turn four years of age and more than 13% of students report being abused” (p. 1). Children’s reaction to trauma is different from how adults react (Bennett et al., 2014; Elzy et al., 2013; Garfin et al., 2014; Walkey & Cox, 2013; West et al., 2014). Traumatic events can lead children to events that cause suspensions and maybe eventually dropping out of school (Porche et al., 2011). Researchers found exposure to traumatic events early cause problems

Traumatic events are defined as those in which an individual experiences, witnesses, or confronted with actual or threatened death, serious injury, or threatened physical integrity of self or others (DSM-V). Children are exposed to various experiences that can be traumatic for them. Childhood traumatic experiences may stem from experiences that were of a violent nature, physical, psychological or sexual. Children are often witnesses to physical violence in the homes, domestic violence against the parent. They are exposed to gun violence, drugs/substance abuse, and homelessness. Some children live in households where family members are incarcerated, mentally ill or have experienced a tragic loss as a result of death.

With the lack of certain resources, in the middle of my research, I decided to combine the details of the few cases I could find with my own knowledge of child abuse and with the small amount of information I discovered on www.headline.time.com to find out the mental process of a child who has experienced child abuse. This method helped me conduct my research of the mental process of a victim of child abuse, ultimately learning that a child who has experienced high-stress levels of maltreatment (child abuse) most likely has damage of the hippocampus which may affect his/her ability to cope with stress later in life. In other words, early stress makes the brain less resilient to the effects of later stress which leaves victims more vulnerable to depression, addiction, and post-traumatic stress

After interviewing with Elizabeth Domingos-Shepard, MFT, I was able to gain a better understanding of the impact trauma has on a child, physically, biologically, and emotionally. Elizabeth (2016) explained that trauma can alter the chemistry of one’s brain by stating, “There is evidence in research that the brain actually is affected by trauma. It can alter the develop of the brain during significant periods of growth, particularly in the first years of life as well as in adolescence. For example, in cases of severe neglect, the brain doesn 't grow as the rate it should due to lack of exposure to appropriate stimuli. However, with early intervention, the child can potentially catch up in brain development. This is due to the concept of neuroplasticity.” The actual removal of children from their caretaker can, “be as impactful or more impactful that the reason why they were re moved to begin with (abuse or neglect) (Domingos-Shepard, 2016). Elizabeth (2016) stresses the importance of assessment when dealing with a child who has experienced any trauma and that assessment is always ongoing. In details to how trauma impacts a child cognitively, physically, and emotionally, Elizabeth (2016) informs that children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect, may have a single incident of trauma or multiple incidents with they may experience a number of emotional, cognitive or physical consequences of trauma, such as brain development delays, development of an insecure attachment

According to The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score— a scale created to measure the amount of harsh conditions an individual has experienced throughout his/her childhood (Levenson & Grady, 2016, p. 95)— traumas include: “emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; witnessing household violence; substance abuse; household mental illness; and having an incarcerated household member… physical and emotional neglect and parental separation/divorce” (Foz, Perez, Cass, Baglivio, & Epps, 2015, p. 165)

Trauma comes in many different ways but makes the child feel as if they are terrified for what is happening in that moment. Children who are apart of a traumatic

Children who are abused tend to have a lot of emotional and psychological problems. Some of these problems can be treated if taken care of immediately, but unfortunately for some children these issues progress in

There are many types of trauma that can effect an adolescent and without the proper treatment of the traumatic event the adolescent can have difficulty adapting and developing into adulthood. Kathleen J. Moroz, of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, defines trauma as a physical or psychological threat or assault to a child’s physical integrity, sense of self, safety of survival or to the physical safety of another person significant to the child. She goes on to list the types of trauma a child may be exposed to. Abuse of every kind, domestic violence, natural disasters, abandonment, serious illness or an accident are just a few traumatic events that can effect the development of a child. (2) When these events occur as an acute event

Loss of speech, sleeplessness, self-harms, nightmares, having suicidal thoughts or actions are some signs that indicate a child that has experienced a traumatic event. Trauma is a reflective emotion, triggered by how an individual /child may react to a frightening or shocking situation. It is defined by the reaction of the child to a specific event. However, trauma to one child may not be trauma to another. But the child that experiences this can be scared for a lifetime. This strain can begin as soon as birth is given to a child, throughout his /her eighteen (18) years of childhood. Nevertheless that child can have flashback of the event straight over into their adulthood depending on how they cope with the situation.