“His arms clawed at the water, searching the walls of the hollow for something to grab onto. … He had fallen through an abandoned well covering. He screamed for help, but his cries reverberated in the tight shaft. … Numbness set in as he treaded water in the depths of the casm, calling, crying out. He was tormented by visions of the walls collapsing in, burying him alive. … As the night wore on, the shaft deepened. The walls inched quietly inward” (Brown 328). The novel Angels and Demons contains numerous characters who all have their own backstories, many that include childhood traumas.
In the novel, the traumas that the characters experienced in their childhoods were detrimental in the shaping of their adult personalities. Not only were their personalities manipulated by the damage from these events that stole parts of their childhood innocence, but their coping skills were also affected. Childhood traumas come in various forms. For instance, one can experience trauma through a single catastrophic event as well as with multiple occurrences of abuse or neglect over a span of time. No matter which, the end results are similar.
Child abuse and parental neglect can lead to psychological issues such as alcohol dependence, poor social skills and personality disorders. Child abuse encompasses much more than the typical physical abuse that is widely focused on around the world. Abuse takes on many forms such as sexual, emotional and neglect which may not be as obvious to decipher as physical abuse if only looking at the situation superficially (Shevlin, McElroy, and Murphy 591). Although all types of abuse are seen in life, the most common forms experienced are emotional and physical abuse (Dalbudak and Evren 43).
Emotional abuse may cause one to feel insignificant or unworthy of attention from others. This has the potential to develop into psychological disorders, such as depression, later in life. Emotional abuse is not the only risk factor for mental disorders in adulthood. In fact, each type of abuse does its own damage to one’s personality and development. Physical abuse does more to the child than just physically harm him. The parent or guardian that is the abuser is teaching the child that it is acceptable to harm others when he himself becomes angry.
The abusing person is setting an example early in the child’s life that may later on cause issues with aggression or lack of control of his anger. The physical abuse one encounters while in childhood may cause development of mental and personality disorders later in adulthood. Parental neglect is another major factor in the development of psychological disorders. Neglect is typically present in single parent families where the parent sees the child as a source of income from the government (Child abuse 45).
The child brings in enough money from the government to support the parent’s wants, but the child’s wants gets pushed to the side (Child abuse 45). This is not always the case, but those who do experience parental neglect are more likely to develop mental or personality disorders than those who do not experience neglect. Each form of abuse impacts the development of those who experience it, especially if the trauma is experienced earlier in life. Traumas present earlier in life, no matter the form, have long lasting effects on those who experienced the abuse (Brady and Back 3).
One long lasting effect that the abused child may develop is alcohol dependence and substance use. Alcohol dependence and substance abuse are common developments of childhood abuse and neglect. A study was held to determine the amount of children abused who had turned to substance abuse in at their lowest point. The study showed that the majority of those studied that had been abused as children had become addicted to a type of substance. In fact, 62% who reported abused as a child were found to be abusing substances, proving that the majority of those abused also turned to substance use (Brady and Back 2).
There are numerous reasons why people with past experience of abuse would turn to drug use, but one stands out above the others. Substance abuse is a possible way for those who have experienced traumatic events to calm any mood and anxiety disorders they may have developed (Dalbudak and Evren 42). Since many children have experienced more than one type of abuse throughout their life, it is likely that they have also developed multiple physiological disorders in their later life. They use the substances to ease the mental issues that they have developed because of their past lifestyle.
Not only do abused or neglected children tend to turn to drugs, they also turn to alcohol to cope with stress or negative situations (Brady and Back 2). Alcohol is a popular device that people use to wash away their problems for a brief amount of time. Alcohol dependence is commonly seen in people who have been abused or neglected as a child because they do not know any other way of coping with a stressful or negative situation. Often times, people who were abused and rely on alcohol or drugs to cope with negative situations also have a more severe psychological disorder.
Psychological disorders, such as personality and other mental disorders may develop because of history of abuse and neglect. Borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even ADHD are developments from experiences with early childhood traumas. Childhood trauma and physical neglect have an impact on borderline personality disorder, often resulting in depressive symptoms (Dalbudak and Evren 43). Many times depression is caused by the feeling of worthlessness, a common thing seen in emotional and other forms of abuse.
The depressive symptoms of borderline personality disorder often lead to low self esteem and anxiety, that makes those experiencing it feel lonely and socially excluded (Brady and Back 2). Early childhood traumas do not only result in depression because of borderline personality disorder. They also result in the child developing PTSD and depression due to poor parenting style. Poor parenting behaviors and attitudes are related to the development of PTSD and depression later in the child’s life (SOBP 13).
The parents are abusing their children or interacting with them harshly rather than the loving way a parent is expected to behave. Many times the parent treats their child this way because they themselves were abused, experienced a traumatic event, or are depressed (SOBP 14). Traumas result in irrational or aggressive behavior towards others, as well as numerous forms of psychological disorders. Because of the developed mental disorders, such as depression, many people isolate themselves socially.
Those who experience depression because of childhood abuse or neglect often isolate themselves from the world. They tend to withdraw from healthy social circles that can support them and lead them on the right path (Brady and Back 2), because they feel different from other. Instead, they migrate towards fringe groups where alcohol and substance use are more widely accepted (Brady and Back 2). The fringe groups typically accept alcohol as a coping method to stressful event, resulting in the victim’s alcohol dependence and substance abuse worsening rather than improving.
Their depression levels also increase. Those who have history with abuse often feel lonely because they believe that they have no social support systems and are socially isolated (Shevlin, McElroy, and Murphy 592). The social support systems that they do have are often the fringe groups that are experiencing the same situations as those who experiences a form (or multiple forms) of abuse. Their social isolation from a majority of society impacts not only their mental and physical health, but also their capability to hold jobs and to stay out of legal trouble (Brady and Back 2).
Depression developed from childhood trauma may prevent the victim from living a normal and healthy, because of the social isolation they feel. Childhood abuse causes more than meets the eye. As a child develops, the events that he experiences shapes the person that he will grow into as an adult. If these experiences are traumatic in nature, whether acute or chronic, they will have a more substantial impact on the person and his future emotional and psychological wellbeing. The many forms of childhood abuse; sexual, physical, emotional, and parental neglect, may lead to the development of psychological disorders later in the child’s life.
Depression, personality disorders, social isolation, and substance and alcohol dependence are excessively common in victims childhood abuse and parental neglect. Disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder or borderline personality disorder typically do not develop until early adulthood, demonstrating that the impact of traumas early in life affects the child for years after the incident. Childhood trauma and parental neglect in the child’s early life causes psychological disorders that will impact the rest of the child’s life.