When a child suffers a trauma, they can react in several different complicated ways. It is hard for adults to understand traumatic events, and many children do not have the words or skills to express their feelings about what has happened to them. If childhood trauma goes untreated it can cause several problems for these individuals throughout childhood, as well as once they reach adolescence or adulthood.

As a teen or adult, people are better able to process and understand traumatic events. Because of this, it is common for individuals to experience difficulty in coping with something that happened in their childhood and can feel like it is happening all over again.

Trauma can have a number of side effects including anxiety, emotional numbing, difficulty regulating emotions, sleep problems, physical problems, agitation, depression, etc.

As a trauma survivor, it is important to take the time to work through trauma in order to keep it from controlling your life.  It is also crucial that you learn how to ask for what you need from the people in your life.

If you are a family member or friend of someone who has experienced trauma, it is important to make your loved one feel safe and to be patient with them as they work to understand what has happened to them.

Just because it may look like your loved one is fine on the outside does not mean that they are not struggling on the inside. 

Written by: Elizabeth Kraich Curlee