What is Complex Developmental Trauma?
Most of us have moments in our life that ultimately transformed us. These experiences can be positive, like the birth of a child, marriage, or finally landing your dream job. They can make us feel uplifted, motivated, and really proud of ourselves. But there are other transformative experiences that aren't as positive. They change us, but not in a positive way. In fact, they can be really damaging to our personalities, lifestyle, and overall happiness. These types of situations are known as PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is also commonly referred to as trauma.
Most people understand trauma/PTSD in relation to those who went to war and returned. However, any person, for any reason, can experience PTSD. Common reasons are car accidents, domestic, sexual, or emotional abuse, witnessing or being a victim of a crime, or even being bullied can have damaging effects on a person's life. On the other hand, there is Complex Developmental Trauma. Let's go over what exactly Complex Developmental Trauma is.
Defining Complex Development Trauma
Contrary to an old belief, our brains are always developing and changing. However, our early years of growing up are perhaps the most influential and transformative experiences that we can go through. As our brains develop in the first few years of life, every encounter and experience, even those we don't remember, can have lasting effects or consequences on the rest of our lives. Through no fault of our own, sometimes, these experiences ultimately alter the composition and functioning of our brain. Complex developmental trauma typically occurs in the earliest years of a child's life. It occurs anywhere between the ages of 0 to 1 month all the way up until five years. It's a chronic type of trauma, meaning that it was ongoing over a period of time.
How Does Complex Developmental Trauma Occur?
More often than not, this type of trauma will typically involve a child's primary caregiver, a parent, grandparent, or even an aunt and uncle responsible for them at an early age. There doesn't have to be physical abuse for this type of trauma to occur. It can come from neglect or even a dysfunctional household. And even though a child may not fully understand the words being said, it can also be from verbal abuse that can affect the developing brain.
While overall the brain is developing during these years, a specific part of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex, develops rapidly until around three years of age. When neglect or abuse occurs, it delays and prevents the prefrontal cortex from developing properly. So, how does this affect you later on in life? The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain responsible for regulating emotions, thought processing, and being able to plan for the future.
When this part of the brain is negatively impacted, it will have a domino effect on the rest of the body and brain. In short, it can cause symptoms of anxiety, depression, or anger issues. Responses to stressful situations will not be the same, either. It can cause someone later in life to either explode with fits of rage or illicit an extremely anxious response. Alternatively, someone may respond by completely shutting down.
It's in the name—complex trauma is truly complex. But that doesn't mean that these negative early childhood experiences must have a lasting effect on someone's life. In fact, it is never too late to rewire the brain. Because the brain is always developing, complex PTSD symptoms and effects of trauma can be lessened.
All you have to do is reach out to us so I can help you learn how early childhood trauma has affected you. Trauma therapy can be a very transformative experience.
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