The Effects of Harmful Childhood Experiences

Abstract

Most people have been the victims of varying degrees of trauma at some time in their lives. The dictionary defines trauma, in part, as “an emotional shock that creates substantial and lasting damage to the psychological development of the individual.” People may also experience minor traumas over a continuous period of time, which can damage their development as well. Sometimes it is difficult to know if you have been the victim of traumatic events since memory can be lost or partial around specific events. It is also common to discount your own pain by comparing it to “worse cases,” and not taking your own struggles seriously. One way you can know that painful things have happened to you is to go backwards and find the cause from the effect, as in the smoking gun analogy: If a gun is smoking, it must have been fired, even if you didn’t see anyone fire it. Similarly, if you have the symptoms of trauma, you must have had traumatic experiences, even if you do not remember them, can’t quite identify them, or felt they were only minor discomforts.

If you wish to understand others look into your own heart.

Schiller, Votive Tablets