The Effects Of Childhood Trauma On Brain Development

Early life experiences, positive and negative, have a profound effect on brain development. Neurobiological changes that occur due to problems experienced during childhood can lead to lifelong complications. These complications, as a result of the early childhood trauma and maltreatment, are most predominately found in the interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning difficulties that emerge later in life. The problems that are easiest to identify from an outside perspective are the difficulties forming and maintaining long lasting interpersonal relationships. These relationships include but are not limited to romantic, platonic, and familial relationships. “Survivors [of child abuse] often find it difficult to trust others” (‘The Ways Childhood Trauma and Abuse Can Affect Survivors’). As trust is noted to be a vital component to a healthy relationship of any kind, one can infer that a lack thereof can lead to complications in maintaining romantic relationships. A lack of self-esteem is
also a negative effect of child abuse.
This can lead to complications in platonic relationships as survivors may find it difficult to put themselves in a situation that could result in rejection. Many adults that suffered abuse as children end up being child abusers themselves. “It is true that abused children are more likely to repeat the cycle as adults” (Smith). This can greatly affect the familial relationship, as the victim has become the abuser and unconsciously prolonged the cycle of abuse. These interpersonal problems are likely due to intrapersonal problems that stem from the childhood abuse and maltreatment. The intrapersonal effects are the most devastating to the human psyche. These effects include a variety of psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and a number of personality disorders including, but not limited to, dissociative identity disorder, paranoid personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. “PTSD
[Post-traumatic stress disorder] is particularly likely to develop when a person experiences fear, helplessness and powerless, which are all common features of child abuse” (‘The Ways Childhood Trauma and Abuse Can Affect Survivors’). Common symptoms of PTSD include anxiety, depression, flashbacks, denial, and/or repression. Adults who suffered maltreatment as children may fully repress the memories and be prone to flashbacks or deny that it ever occurred. If the adult suffers from denial they are more likely to attempt to search for false reasoning to excuse their parents’ behavior. This can lead them to, unknowingly, abuse their own children. Another disorder is dissociative identity disorder, or D.I.D. which is more commonly known as multiple personality disorder. People with this disorder can house many well-defined identities within themselves. This can lead to many difficulties as one cannot know what personality will be dominant from day to day. Paranoid personality disorder is defined as it sounds: a person who has a paranoid mindset. People with this disorder have large distrust and suspicion of others, which can cause problems in romantic relationships as previously stated. Antisocial personality disorder is a disorder in which people have a disregard for the rights of others and violate those rights with little to no remorse. “Treating people with personality disorders is often difficult as those with a personality disorder often do have little or no insight into the fact that their difficulties are a result of the way they relate to others” (‘The Ways Childhood Trauma and Abuse Can Affect Survivors’). The effects of childhood abuse and trauma are found throughout life in both interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning difficulties. The consequences of adversely affected neurobiological development can last decades into adulthood, especially when having gone untreated. Though the effects of abuse are well documented, one cannot guarantee that the past must affect the future.