Too Long Left, Childhood Trauma Can Trigger Adult Disease

Contents:

Medical Video: How Childhood Trauma Can Make You A Sick Adult

Experiencing a traumatic event is hard for anyone, both men and women. Especially if this condition has been experienced since childhood, the recovery process will certainly be more difficult and require more time. Making peace with trauma in the past is not easy, but needs to be restored as soon as possible. Not only undermining mental health, the impact of prolonged trauma can also affect your physical condition as an adult. One of them triggers a chronic disease that is difficult to cure.

Chronic illness can be the impact of childhood trauma

chronic kidney disease

During this time, you might think that chronic disease can only be caused by a physical condition that is not prime or an unhealthy lifestyle. For example smoking habits, rarely exercise, eating haphazardly, and so on.

The fact is that it's not that simple. Without realizing it, the pain to the physical disability you are experiencing right now could be the impact of your trauma in the past.

This surprising finding comes from a study in the Journal of Pain in 2016. According to a study initiated by Robert R. Edwards and his team, the impact of past trauma that is not immediately cured is quite serious, which is to increase the risk of chronic illness by doubling.

Children who experience traumatic events from childhood are at risk of up to 97 percent of chronic diseases as adults. The causes of the trauma can vary. Ranging from sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional violence, parental divorce, addictive substance abuse, to the death of parents.

Why is that?

the impact of trauma

The impact of trauma and inner stress is indeed very heavy for people who experience it. Especially if you have harbored this trauma since childhood, then the consequences can be far more serious to carry over to adulthood.

Prolonged stress not only affects mental health, but also invites various diseases in the body. This is related to how the brain works when responding to the trauma we experience.

Trauma, both physically and emotionally, will trigger the body's stress response, making you more aware of external threats. When you experience tremendous fear, your body's nervous system will move very actively to protect yourself from danger. Trauma experts refer to this as a stage hyperarousal or excessive stimulation.

After the trauma begins to subside, excessive stimulation of the nervous system will gradually decrease so you feel much more calm. However, make no mistake. The remnants of stimuli and traumatic injuries that you experience will remain and even continue to imprint on your body.

Trauma may recur at any time

If examined more deeply, the brain may release this excessive stimulation at any time, especially when you experience a bad event later on. If it continues to be left on, the nerve tissue in the brain can be damaged and trigger chronic diseases in some parts of the body.

For example, you have felt very lost and traumatized because your parents died since you were little. Years later, you have to go back to swallowing bitterly when the closest person, your partner, died in an accident.

When this bad experience is repeated again, the long-held trauma, aka inactive, will return to the surface. The brain will begin to produce chemicals and stress hormones to get stronger pain.

This pain not only interferes with the brain's nervous system, but can also spread to other body parts. Over time, this can lead to chronic disease.

A psychiatrist in Australia, Dr. Michelle Atchison, said that the earlier your age is when you experience trauma, the more likely you are to be affected complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD).

Symptoms of CPTSD are certainly more severe than symptoms of PTSD, even the symptoms can be very difficult to detect from the medical side. This is because the symptoms are similar to the symptoms of various other chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, chronic bronchitis and asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, to psoriasis.

How to reduce the impact of past trauma

the benefits of frequent crying

It's not easy to reduce or even forget all the bad experiences in the past. However, this does not mean you will continue to allow this trauma to exist even to the point of triggering chronic illness, right?

Relax, here are the steps you can take to restore the disturbing trauma:

1. Recognize the symptoms of trauma

So that you are better able to control the trauma response that can occur at any time, recognize the signs of a trauma reaction to the body. The body that begins to stress due to trauma is usually characterized by:

  • Longer pain than others
  • Headaches and persistent abdominal pain for no reason
  • Drug and alcohol dependence
  • Having eating disorders
  • Often hurt yourself
  • Withdraw from other people
  • Excessive anxiety
  • Insomnia

2. Calm yourself

Once the symptoms of trauma appear, immediately calm yourself with breathing exercises. Sit in your most comfortable position, then set your breath slowly.

While closing your eyes, take a deep breath through your nose and exhale as slowly as possible through your mouth. Feel the positive energy entering your body and let the muscles of the body become more relaxed.

3. Emotional emotions

Remember, you don't need to bother covering your feelings, you know. Just spill it if it can't be dammed. It doesn't matter if you want to be angry or cry to vent your emotions.

However, that does not mean you can go berserk or hurt people around, huh. It's good to pour your emotions by writing a journal, drawing, or playing music. Talking or writing about your experience can help reduce the impact of trauma experienced.

4. Stories to trusted people

If you feel comfortable telling someone else, just do it. Tell your problems and bad experiences only to people you trust. Whether it's parents, siblings, or closest friends. Ask for their support to help you get out of the trauma.

5. Consult a doctor or therapist

If you have done various ways but still feel traumatized, it's time for you to see a doctor or therapist. You may be encouraged to take certain therapies to restore childhood trauma.

By doing therapy regularly, you will be better able to manage emotions and suppress trauma reactions that can recur at any time. Your doctor will also check your health thoroughly to prevent the risk of chronic diseases.

This method does not 100 percent cure trauma and the risk of chronic diseases that you experience. However, at least this can help reduce the impact of trauma that haunts your life.

Too Long Left, Childhood Trauma Can Trigger Adult Disease
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