Childhood trauma can create a variety of mental health issues later in life. Even if you’ve successfully been able to “forget” or repress the trauma that happened, it remains stored in your mind and body and will typically manifest itself in different ways.
Some people who experienced childhood trauma deal with relationship issues or struggles in their careers. Others have to handle physical symptoms like chronic pain or nausea.
Research has shown that childhood trauma also often leads to heightened emotional intensity and variability. There are a variety of factors that play into these symptoms, and most have to do with emotional development issues.
Let’s take a closer look at why childhood trauma impacts emotional intensity and variability, and what you can do now if you’re dealing with these issues.
Emotional Regulation
It’s not uncommon for children to struggle with emotional regulation. It’s something that is learned and developed over time, with maturity. Unfortunately, children who experience abuse, neglect, or other instances of trauma might struggle with emotional development. They might have a harder time understanding and processing their emotions, which eventually leads to emotional dysregulation.
Childhood trauma can also change the way your brain processes emotions. Your brain can actually be restructured, developing connectivity issues that might make it difficult to understand emotions. At the same time, these connectivity problems can change and heighten the way your brain processes emotional stimuli, so more things can feel overwhelming.
As an adult, that can make it difficult to express your emotions in healthy, effective ways. You might not even fully understand what you’re feeling or why, and when your emotions start to feel intense, you have a hard time controlling them.
As you might expect, a lack of emotional regulation can cause issues in nearly every area of your life.
Heightened Sensitivity
If you’re in a dangerous or scary situation, you’re likely going to be on high alert. You might always feel like something is just around the corner, or that you need to stand guard to protect yourself.
A child who experiences trauma tends to feel heightened emotional intensity for this very reason. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go away, no matter the circumstance. It’s common for someone who has experienced childhood trauma to see everyday interactions and experiences as threatening — including normal social cues. These threat cues can lead to intense emotions and create an underlying fear of social interactions.
Childhood trauma can also cause your body to produce more stress hormones. This can make your neurological system alert in a way that the body more often perceives threats and dangers, even if they aren’t realistic.
Shame, Blame, and Guilt
Finally, the emotions you feel about yourself due to childhood trauma can have a huge impact on the way you live your life. Children who go through traumatic experiences can often struggle with guilt, shame, and blame themselves for what happened when it wasn’t their fault.
As an adult, that can lead to low self-esteem, codependent relationships, and more. If your feelings get so intense that they cause you to feel worthless, you might even start to engage in self-harm or destructive behaviors.
What Can You Do?
It’s never too late to seek help for the trauma you experienced as a child. One of the best things you can do is to reach out to a mental health professional. Therapy is often the best way to better understand what happened to you as a child, no matter how difficult it might be to bring those memories forward.
Therapy can help with emotional development and regulation, making it easier to respond to your feelings appropriately as you go forward. Your childhood trauma doesn’t have to define you. Don’t hesitate to contact me to set up an appointment for trauma therapy soon.
