Services
- Home
- Mental Health Services
- Who We Treat
- How We Treat
- Patients & Visitors
- About
close
“Childhood trauma is not a life sentence. Extreme emotional pain doesn’t guarantee emotional pain for the rest of your life.”
- Rachel Hollis
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that happen when a person is under the age of 18. When left unresolved, they significantly impact a person’s ability to function into adulthood. In Texas, at least 19% of people have experienced at least 2 of these events during childhood.
At SUN Behavioral Health Houston, we help people in the community navigate their traumas and find healing daily. This includes educating them on understanding the impact these events have had on their daily lives, whether they have actively noticed them or not. Today, we are going to discuss childhood trauma and its lingering effects when left untreated.
To understand what childhood trauma is, it is first essential to know what a traumatic experience is in general. These events, whether single occurrences or a series of them over time, pose a violent, dangerous, or frightening threat to a person’s life. Witnessing these things happen to other people can also be classified as a traumatic event. It doesn’t matter how old or young a person is when they experience or witness these things for it to significantly impact their life. It is also important to remember that nobody is at fault for the traumas they experienced, even if they had a role in its existence.
This means that even children can experience traumatic events and many times, the threats they face concern their sense of safety. To children, these experiences evoke strong emotions and physical reactions that can persist and influence their beliefs about themselves or others in the long term. Young people often need extra time and support to feel secure after something happens. This is not always provided, which might result in more long-lasting consequences that continue to impact them as they age into adults.
While childhood trauma might come from within the family, as is sometimes thought of through domestic violence, neglect, the sudden death of a beloved family member, or physical or sexual abuse, it may also come from outside that dynamic. Even children who come from loving homes where their family members are alive and were kind, supportive, and caring to them may experience a traumatic event that was beyond the control or fault of the adults in their lives.
Some experiences that children might have that are deemed traumatic include:
Traumatic events a child might have are not limited to the ones mentioned above. They are anything that results in them fearing for their lives.
As mentioned earlier, childhood trauma can occur outside the environments of their home or school life where there are adults who aim to protect and care for them. These events may be out of those adults’ control, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t impact the child’s sense of safety or well-being. In the weeks and months after these events, there might be several signs that something has happened, and recognizing them enables parents and caregivers to seek an early intervention in their child or adolescent’s healing that minimizes or prevents long-term consequences into adulthood.
These signs are often behavioral, emotional, or physical in nature. Below is a chart that explores these in more detail.
| Sign of Trauma in Children or Adolescence | Why These Signs Happen | Examples of Signs |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral | Trauma has a significant effect in how a child’s brain recognizes and responds to perceived threats. These effects often result in behavioral changes associated with the child’s abilities to regulate their emotions, be attentive, perform executive functions, and manage their impulses | Being easily frustrated, being withdrawn, not concentrating on school work or conversations, refusing to go to school, changes in weight and eating habits, frequently crying, reckless or risky behaviors, showing signs of self-harm, reenacting a traumatic event, expressing concerns about their safety, or regressive behaviors like wetting the bed or thumb sucking |
| Emotional | After a traumatic event, many children have a difficult time identifying, managing, and expressing their emotions. Some of them might internalize their feelings or react to stress in an unpredictable manner. These are often because they might feel it is a way they can protect themselves especially if their trauma involved interpersonal relationships | Feelings of sadness, worthlessness, guilt, shame, or fear, might feel timid or pressured, more likely to cry or scream, extreme fear when separated from a caregiver, feeling alone, easily scared or frightened, or intense outburst of aggression or anger |
| Physical | Physical symptoms associated with trauma are often a part of their body’s response to it and may be viewed as reminders to the traumatic event | More likely to become sick or develop infections, increased heart rate, have lethargy, stomachaches, and headaches, are hypersensitive to noise, touch, light, and smells, they might complain of pain where there is no physical reason, or they might be unaware of any physical sensations |
Unresolved childhood trauma has a significant impact on a person’s life as they enter adulthood. This is because it shapes how a person is raised and copes with situations and their established support systems. The earlier someone receives treatment for a traumatic experience, the less likely it is to impact their adult lives. This doesn’t mean that treatment and healing aren’t possible as an adult. Many people find healing from unresolved childhood trauma every day, but it can be more difficult. Below are a few ways past trauma can impact your life as an adult.
As mentioned in the chart above about childhood trauma symptoms in children and adolescents, not only is a person’s mental health impacted by trauma, but their physical health can be as well. Those physical symptoms mentioned above might continue to develop into long-term conditions as childhood trauma remains unresolved. Many people might develop a compromised immune system or cardiovascular health concern. These developed conditions might require medical intervention and mental health treatment for people to find healing.
Letting childhood trauma remain unresolved can have dire consequences on your quality of life going forward. As seen above, the things that happen in a person’s childhood can continue to impact them years later, but it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to try and heal on your own. If any of the above situations feel familiar to you, it might be time to seek trauma therapy.
While the idea of attending trauma therapy might feel vulnerable or terrifying, mainly if you have never really talked about your experiences with someone before, with time, it can be a freeing opportunity. Many people find healing as they learn new skills and form connections with people who have had similar stories as themselves, which enriches their recovery journey from any unresolved childhood trauma.
SUN Behavioral Health Houston solves unmet needs for adolescents and adults. Our no-cost care assessments allow us to consider your needs and experiences as well as your doctor’s recommendations to design a treatment plan that will best facilitate healing from your childhood trauma. To schedule a consultation, contact us today at 713-796-2273.
7601 Fannin Street
Houston, TX, 77054
Open 24 hours
