TRAUMA & ATTACHMENT
Childhood is one of the most important phases of one’s life. It prepares the base of our lives. The experience a child has in his early life influences his character and emotions. There are many theories put forward by different experts who support the importance of childhood experiences in shaping our character and the nature of interpersonal relationships. Freud’s theories have been the milestone in this regard. He has explained the role of child’s experience in his sexual expressions as an adult. The impact of trauma starts affecting a child even before he is born, that is, in utero. The traumatic events right from the period of gestation, start showing their effects. These events then keep accumulating and manifesting their results. The effects at the time of birth and during the initial years of lives bring about changes all along the course of the life of the children. Such traumatic events not only affect the psychology and social lives of the children but also bring about neurological changes in the brains of the children. In this paper, we will discuss the causes and effects of such traumatic events and their effects on the attachment related issues and relationships.
Our understanding of health, disease and cure has changed over time with a progressive improvement in our knowledge, technologies and perceptions of these things. Furthermore, the developments in the neurosciences have contributed to our knowledge of disease in correlation with emotions, psychological factors, prolonged physical illness and general ill health. With time, we have been able to recognize the fact that our social factors have a great role in our overall developments. At times, the impact of the social factors tends to override the genetic influences.
The fact that the brain is immature and the time of birth and it possesses the ability to undergo change throughout the life of an individual, strongly emphasizes that the experiences of a child during the early years of life may affect the relationships and behaviour of the individual as a grown up person.
Talking about the science of such impacts on the brain of the child, it can be said that there is a complex mechanism involved in the process. At the time of birth, the brain is the most naïve organ and is completely undifferentiated. The brain, at this stage, is known to have the property of plasticity. By the virtue of this property, the brain creates new nerve circuits and keeps developing these throughout the course of life. The brain renews its structure and functions as a result of the social experiences it goes through. The attuning of a child’s brain is so high that even the unspoken communications and shapes produce a remarkable impact on the child’s mind and its development. The plasticity of the child’s brain at this stage provides a template for future experiences and stress that the child has to face as an adult along the course of his life.
(Infant Attachment Cycle, 2016)
The bond that a child shares with its primary caretaker affects the relationships and attachments of the child as an adult. This relationship affects the structure and functioning of the child’s brain during its developmental phase. Failed attachment, as a result of neglect, abuse, or absence of the caregiver produces a negative impact on the structural and functional development of the child’s brain. This will affect the relationships of the child in the long run. Emotional trauma during the early phases of life negatively affects the future self-esteem of the child, his social awareness and the learning abilities of the child. In cases where the child suffers from a failed relationship or a traumatic interpersonal bond, these negative feelings become the basis of intimacy related expectations as an adult (Healingresources.info, 2016).
(Infant Trauma Cycle, 2016)
According to Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, developmental trauma begins right from the time of conception, even when the child is in the uterus of the mother. This exposure to developmental trauma continues until the pre-conscious years of life. This continues until the age of 36 months. Dr. Allan Schore, the father of attachment theory in the United States, calls developmental trauma disorder as relational trauma and relation disorders rather than effects of any particular incident (Cloitre, Stovall-McClough, Zorbas, & Charuvastra, 2008).
The fear of being abandoned is the most stress and anxiety- provoking factor for a child. The incidences like a parent going out of the town or coming late from work give rise to a strong feeling of anxiety and stress about the parent’s safety in the naïve mind of the child. Children are highly dependent on their parents for their emotional needs. They feel a sense of attachment towards them. When the children feel the absence of their parents around they become insecure. The feeling of insecurity that a child develops due to the absence of a parent may continue as an adult and hamper his interpersonal relationships as a grown up individual. Parental separation faced by a child at an early age has much worse consequences than one can imagine. The child starts blaming himself and thinks he is the reason for the separation. Therefore, the bad effects of parental separation are further worsened if it happens before a child becomes mature enough to understand that he is not responsible for the parental conflicts. The children who face the fear of abandonment often reflect similar emotions in their personal relationships in their adulthood (Therefuge-ahealingplace.com, 2016).
Attachment is the reciprocal process of emotional attachment between the child and the caregiver. This attachment influences the cognitive, physical and emotional functioning of the child. it is this relationship of the child with the caregiver that shapes the ability of the individual to trust or mistrust people as a grown up individual. This relationship provides the basis for all the relations that he will form in the course of his life and determines the kind of bonding that he will share with his near ones and those in his daily life. Kathleen G. Moss enlists certain factors that ensure a healthy attachment and the factors that lead the disruption of the same. According to her, a good attachment means touching, being around, smiling, eye contact and fulfilment of the emotional needs during the period of infancy. On the other hand, painful medical procedures, being separated from the mother, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and prolonged isolated hospital admission can hamper the attachment and produce undesirable effects. These children, when grown up, project themselves as self- sufficient individuals and mask their inner insecurities with their charm. They may also seem to be overtly clingy or may chatter excessively. They find it difficult to establish relationships on their parental terms. They may appear to be lazy, may have improper eating habits, poor eye contacts, inability to control their impulse, tendency to steal, destructive nature, and may even have a tendency for self- harm (Moss, 2016).
Talking about the severity and the seriousness of the issue, it can be said that it is a way more serious problem than it apparently seems to be. Child protection services in the United States claims to have received 3 million such cases every year. These cases represent almost 5.5 million children in the United States. The children belonging to the younger age group, including the infants are more prone to be maltreated as compared to the older children. More than one- third of the cases represented children of age group less than 5 years.
(Healing Trauma at the Root, 2016)
U.S department of Veteran Affairs classifies four types of child- caregiver relationships. To begin with, the first one is the secure attachment between child and caregiver. These children look for their caregivers when separated from them. For them, their caregivers provide them a secure base for exploring the world around them. The second category is of children with anxious- ambivalent attachments. These children can explore very little of the world, they are more clingy and often get offended at trifles. Then comes the anxious- avoidant attachment, it represents the caregivers who are not attentive enough towards the children. The children tend to ignore the caregivers in such cases. The fourth category is of the disorganized attachment. It consists of the caregiver and child relationship where the caregiver poses as a comforter and as a reason for stress to the child. They turn out to be somewhat different than the normal children. They are unable to cope up with stressful situations as grown up individuals (Barnett & Hamblen, 2016).
According to the Attachment theory, growing children do not break their previous relationships or attachments. In fact, with growing age they tend to become more active in their previous relationships and continue adding new relationships without replacing the older ones (Mentalhelp.net, 2016).
Some important symptoms that are seen in children suffering from trauma and related attachment disorders are innumerable. Different children respond differently depending upon the cause. Some children may demonstrate abnormal fear of strangers or some may be afraid of leaving their parents. They may develop disturbed sleeping patterns or nightmares. Even some children may get into the habit of repeating the traumatic themes in their plays. These children are usually very fussy, impulsive, irritable, reckless and aggressive. There have been instances when the children forgot the skills they learnt following traumatic events faced by them in the form of neglect, physical or sexual abuse. Children may redevelop the habits they had earlier as an infant, like thumb sucking.
The kind of bond a child develops with his caregiver in the early years shape up his abilities to cope up with life as an adult. When the caregiver responds in sync with the needs of the child, the child grows up as a secure and composed individual. This helps in developing good coping skills for his future endeavours. Whereas, when a child faces inconsistent or confusing responses from his caregiver, he becomes insecure, fussy and hard to please. Such children throw tantrums and it becomes difficult to calm them down (Attachment and Trauma Specialists, 2016).
Therefore, it can be said that childhood traumas affect the entire life of an individual. How a person will be as an adult, his nature, character and morals are all defined by the experiences the child faces during his infancy and early childhood years, mainly till the age of three years. The most important role is played by the caregiver. The kind of bond a child shares with his caregiver determines the kind of relationships and the nature of bonds he will form later in his life. The expectations a person has from his relationships depend on the nature of bond he shared with his caregiver during infancy. Sometimes, the effects may not be due to the caregiver and his/ her attitude, but may be due to others he has been brought up with. Physical or sexual abuse faced by a child at an early age may also produce devastating effects on the psychology of the child. He may develop a fear of strangers or may abstain from making close friends. Neglect by parents (other than caregivers) may also traumatise children. It is thus, highly important to ensure a safe childhood so that the child grows up into a socially and mentally healthy individual. A secure childhood ensures a more composed adulthood with healthy relationships. Children having a pleasant childhood and happy memories grow up as more calm and composed adults. They are more tolerant and well in control of their emotions and sentiments and are more prepared for stressful situations in life.
References
Attachmentandtraumaspecialists.com,. (2016). Attachment and Trauma Specialists - Attachment Trauma. Retrieved 27 February 2016, from http://www.attachmentandtraumaspecialists.com/trauma/attachment_trauma
Barnett, E., & Hamblen, J. (2016). Trauma, PTSD, and Attachment in Infants and Young Children - PTSD: National Center for PTSD. U. S Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 27 February 2016, from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treatment/children/trauma_ptsd_attachment.asp
Cloitre, M., Stovall-McClough, C., Zorbas,, P., & Charuvastra, A. (2008). Attachment organization, emotion regulation, and expectations of support in a clinical sample of women with childhood abuse histories. Journal Of Traumatic Stress, 21(3), 282-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.20339
Healing Trauma at the Root. (2016). Retrieved from http://dfay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Trauma-Attach-Structure.png
Healingresources.info,. (2016). Trauma, Attachment, and Stress disorders: Developmental Issues. Retrieved 26 February 2016, from http://www.healingresources.info/trauma_attachment_stress_disorders.htm
Infant Attachment Cycle. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.attachmenttraumanetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/infantattachment1.jpg
Infant Trauma Cycle. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.attachmenttraumanetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/infanttrauma1.jpg
Mentalhelp.net,. (2016). Attachment Theory. Retrieved 27 February 2016, from https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/attachment-theory/
Moss, K. (2016). Attachment Trauma - what it is, its causes and associated behaviors.Larkeshleman.com. Retrieved 27 February 2016, from http://larkeshleman.com/attach.html
Therefuge-ahealingplace.com,. (2016). Abandonment & Attachment Related Trauma Treatment Center - The Refuge. Retrieved 26 February 2016, from http://www.therefuge-ahealingplace.com/ptsd-treatment/abandonment/
