Most people are aware that physical abuse can damage a child’s brain and lead to life-long problems, yet the effects of emotional abuse are less understood but no less harmful to a child’s health. Children and adults who have endured emotional neglect can find it mainly problematic to form healthy relationships. They tend to have attachment issues and may become excessively reliant or dependent on one person, or they may end up socially remote later in life. Various research studies have discovered that children who experience emotional suffering from a young age have complications with emotions and memory. (Downey, 2017) This is a brain scan of 2 toddlers brains; they belong to 2 different children of the same age. One side of the photo is the brain of an emotionally abused toddler, and the other hand is the brain of a toddler with a happy home life. The scan on the left has a significantly smaller amount of structure and is much bigger than the one on the right. The one on the left is the image of a fit 3-year-old with average head size. And the scan on the right, which is far smaller and has far more blurry structures, is the brain of a 3-year-old who has suffered extreme emotional trauma and neglect. (Downey, 2017) It's essential to understand how traumatic stress occurs at the various stages of the life cycle’s interaction with the developing brain. The typical human brain experiences changes in structure and function across the lifespan from early childhood to late life. Most of the brain development is said to take place in the utero, yet the brain continues to develop after birth. Within the first five years of life, there is an overall expansion of brain volume related to the development of both gray matter and white matter structures. At the ages from 7 to 17 years of age, there is a progressive increase in white matter and decrease in the gray matter while overall brain size stays the same. Overall brain size is 10% larger in boys than girls during childhood. (Bremner, 2006) Professor Bruce Perry, chief of psychiatry at Texas Children’s Hospital states that in the picture above on the right, “This child is suffering from “severe sensory-deprivation neglect,” He wrote: “These images illustrate the negative impact of neglect on the developing brain.” “In the CT scan on the left is an image from a healthy 3-year-old with an average head size.” “The image on the right is from a 3-year-old child suffering from severe sensory-deprivation neglect.” “This child’s brain is significantly smaller than average and has enlarged ventricles and cortical atrophy.” Dr. Victor Carrion, a child psychiatrist from the hospital, said: “Although everyday levels of stress are necessary to stimulate normal brain development, excess levels can be harmful.” “We’re not talking about the stress of doing your homework or fighting with your dad.” “We’re talking about traumatic stress. These kids feel like they’re stuck in the middle of a street with a truck barreling down at them.” Perry concluded that healthy development of the neural systems that allow ideal social and emotional functioning depends, it can be crucial to their overall health to provide attentive, nurturing care giving that starts in infancy. It can be vital that they have the opportunities to form and maintain a diversity of relationships with other children and adults throughout childhood. (Bremner, 2006) Bremner. (2006). Traumatic stress: effects on the brain. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181836/
Downey. (2017, November 3). Brain scans reveal how badly emotional abuse damages kids. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2017/11/02/brain-scans-reveal-how-badly-emotional-abuse-damages-kids/?fbclid=IwAR2G-2v7YO8uuLA8UiQEkq-aFqOyGlp3t7CRAcuVpXlstg4OPFh081o36dc
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