Traumatic Event in Childhood

Youths who are repeatedly exposed to the traumatic event have a long-term negative impact on their behavior. Sadly, kids who grow up in bad/poor neighborhood usually go through various dramatic events in their life, such as murder, shooting, sexual assault, physical abuse, drug abuse, and more. Due to such events, kids develop a different type of coping technique compare to other good/rich neighborhood kids to survive in the street. Most of time, kids develop an emotionless feeling towards the victims, distrust the police, and become hyper vigilance towards one surrounding. According to Richard G. Dudley, Jr., there are four categories of traumatic symptoms, such as “trauma-related neurological symptoms, trauma-related psychological symptoms, developmental difficulties brought on by the poor parenting, and other associated difficulties” (Dudley, 2015, pg.04).         

First, in the trauma-related neurological symptoms, researchers have found that kid who is repeatedly exposed to the traumatic event develops different brain functions compare to the normal kid. The amygdala of brain area overdevelops for kid who are repeatedly expose to trauma, which result in “increases in fear and anxiety these children experience and causes them to be hyperresponsive to frightening situation in both their physiology and their observable behavior” (Dudley, 2015, pg.05). The brain area of the hippocampus also gets damage, which results in “mood regulation and contextual learning” (Dudley, 2015, pg.05).          

Second, in the trauma-related psychological symptoms, kid develops similar psychological trauma as adult with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Kids who are repeatedly exposed to trauma always tend to be hypervigilant and always expect something bad to happen even when it is safe. They become distress easily when they encounter any similar traumatic event or experience, and it is usually difficult for these kids to control their feeling.          

Third, in the developmental difficulties brought on by the poor parenting, kids feel the emptiness in their life and develop a trust issue with other people. They experience difficulty in controlling their mood and maintaining their relationship with their love ones. Moreover, “traumatized individuals may also exhibit impulsive, potentially self-damaging behavior such as reckless sex and substance abuse” and can also result in suicidal behavior (Dudley, 2015, pg.07).