Children who have experienced complex trauma often have difficulty identifying, expressing, and managing emotions, and may have limited language for feeling states. They often internalize and/or externalize stress reactions and as a result may experience significant depression, anxiety, or anger.
A difficult childhood places a person at risk of experiencing a high degree of negative emotion. They may be prone to depression, worry, anger, panic, or other forms of anxiety. Once the person is upset, it may be hard to recover.
The effect of physical trauma affects many domains of personality, such as affective dysregulation, identity diffusion, disturbed relationships, and self-harm.
Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited.
The signs of trauma in a child include obsession with death or safety and issues with sleeping, eating, attention, and regulating emotions. Kids who have experienced trauma may also start to avoid school, especially if their trauma happened at school or is related to school, such as the death of a classmate.
While childhood trauma won't change your personality type, it can change the result you get on a type indicator (personality quiz, the official MBTI®, etc,.). One of the reasons this happens is that trauma can impact how you use, develop, and show your type preferences.
One study found a link between the number and type of childhood traumas and the development of personality disorders. People with borderline personality disorder, for example, had especially high rates of childhood sexual trauma.
In fact, content analysis of DSM criteria by Geiger & Crick (2001) found five childhood indicators of BPD: hostile or paranoid worldview; impulsivity; intense, unstable or inappropriate emotion; excessively close relationships; and lack of sense of self.
Children of mothers with BPD are also at heightened risk for exhibiting attention difficulties, aggressive behavior, and low self-esteem, in addition to major depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder itself.
Children and teens who suffer from a personality disorder have problems maintaining healthy relationships and often blame circumstances or people around them for problems they have created. This behavior leads to a feeling of loneliness and isolation.
According to the DSM-5, BPD can be diagnosed as early as at 12 years old if symptoms persist for at least one year. However, most diagnoses are made during late adolescence or early adulthood.
These early experiences of maltreatment, abuse and neglect, and their resulting psychological deficits, place a child at risk of developing a clinical disorder, such as BPD, in adolescence and adulthood. Having a history of maltreatment also appears to influence individuals with BPD in their own parenting role.
Yes, unresolved childhood trauma can be healed. Seek out therapy with someone psychoanalytically or psychodynamically trained. A therapist who understands the impact of childhood experiences on adult life, particularly traumatic ones. Have several consultations to see if you feel empathically understood.
Narcissism and its Origins
Narcissism tends to emerge as a psychological defence in response to excessive levels of parental criticism, abuse or neglect in early life. Narcissistic personalities tend to be formed by emotional injury as a result of overwhelming shame, loss or deprivation during childhood.
Personality changes can be caused by a mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder, or personality disorders. It may also be caused by physical illnesses like a urinary tract infection (especially in older adults), concussion, or brain tumor. Understanding the cause can help create an effective treatment.
Children experiencing trauma (eg, witnessing the murder of a family member; sexual assault) are also at elevated risk of several other psychiatric disorders, including depression, PTSD, conduct problems, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts and attempts.
Mothers with BPD may find it difficult to balance appropriate limit setting with the encouragement of exploration and growth for their children. It may also be that mothers with BPD find it difficult to adjust their parenting strategies to match the developmental needs of their children.
The High Conflict Institute defines a high conflict parent as someone who lacks the ability to have insight into their own behavior; who doesn't have the ability to reflect on their actions and who blames others for everything that has gone wrong.
Having one or more parents with borderline personality disorder can result in a chaotic, confusing, and even abusive childhood. Many children grow up having mixed feelings towards their parents, and may also struggle with relationships and self-esteem in their adult lives.