PTSD: Understanding How Emotional Abuse in Childhood Affects You in Adulthood

They say that your past makes you into the person you are today. All those experiences help shape you into the person you see in the mirror each day: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

No matter how hard you may have tried to forget or distance yourself from these memories, trauma has a way of sticking around. This means that if you had negative life experiences while you were growing up, your body and brain could be holding onto these traumatic memories.

PTSD from emotional abuse can affect you later in life. Even if you don’t realize that these traumatic events are still affecting you, they can show up in your day-to-day life, personal relationships, and your career.

Let’s take some time to explore and understand how the impact of PTSD from emotional abuse in your childhood can affect you in your adulthood.

Emotional Dysregulation

Difficulty managing emotions and expressing emotions is commonly seen in children and adults who have undergone emotional abuse. Due to your childhood experiences, you may become quickly overwhelmed by common day-to-day scenarios and stressors. This can cause variable emotions and moods. You might have mood swings if you cannot manage your feelings and self-soothe after stressful situations.

Cognitive Problems

Adults who experienced adverse childhood events were unlikely to have a strong support system that was there for them. If your care was often inconsistent, you frequently had to fend for yourself. Despite your circumstances being completely out of your control, you may have been led to believe that you were at fault for your past experiences and how you were treated. These past interactions can lead to low self-esteem and negative self-talk. In turn, this can lead to having a more difficult time compared to others in simple tasks like making decisions or concentrating.

Physical Signs and Symptoms

Emotional abuse and the PTSD that follows both come along with their own set of signs and symptoms. Physical signs and symptoms like anxiety, chronic pain, digestive issues, headaches, sleeping problems like insomnia and/or nightmares, and panic attacks are common in children and adults who went through stressful past events.

Relationship Struggles

This can make it more challenging to form healthy relationships later in life. If you experience PTSD from childhood emotional abuse, you probably have an extremely hard time trusting others. You could be attracted to partners who show signs of patterns of abuse since that’s what you’re most familiar with. Communication with an adult who went through emotional abuse will be filled with a lot of misunderstandings and conflict. You may even be fearful of letting your guard down or being intimate with another person.

Social Withdraw and Isolation

Adverse childhood experiences can affect how you build relationships in adulthood. An unhealthy or insecure attachment style was likely formed between you and your primary caregiver. This insecure attachment style can cause you to feel extremely isolated and alone. You may even start to avoid engaging in social activities due to fear of being rejected or judged. This can make it extremely difficult for you to form and maintain friendships and romantic relationships.

Next Steps

You may not have been able to control your past, but you’re in full control of your future. Just because your past has a way of catching up doesn’t mean you have to keep running from it for the rest of your life. It’s time to face it head-on and take back control again. Working with a mental health professional can help you process the emotional abuse you experienced and work through any signs or symptoms that you’re struggling with in your adulthood. Reach out to JoyFeel Therapy today to get started.