Mental Effects of Child Abuse

Child abuse not only in America but all around the world is a serious issue today. The awful outcomes of abuse do not only reshape a child's brain, but these horrible consequences can last a lifetime. There are two ways that child abuse can be defined. One definition is legal and the other medical/psychological. Legal definitions are more than likely to be unspecific, while psychological and medical definitions usually have a more detailed explanation. According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies “all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.” Recently, a growing number of children have experienced abuse in the U.S. This essay is focused on the negative mental effects of childhood abuse that can harm people in adulthood and how they build relationships.

There are many ways childhood abuse can affect victims in their adulthood. A study done by Allan Schwartz (a Licensed Clinical Social Worker) showed that many adult survivors of child abuse said they saw no correlation between their current life issues and the abuse they experienced as a child. Strangely enough, some survivors were heavily convinced that they deserved the injustice which they endured. Child abuse can be related to many behavioral, emotion, and physical health problems. Associated emotional and behavioral problems include aggression, conduct disorder, delinquency, antisocial behavior making it hard for victims to create friendships and resulting in them feel isolated, substance abuse which can get them sent to a rehab center, intimate partner violence, teenage pregnancy that can lead to dropping out of high school, anxiety, depression, suicide, low self-esteem, and panic attacks that have usually been associated with PTSD. They may experience trust issues which may come off as paranoia. Having feelings and thoughts of guilt about everything and anything that happens to close friends, family and to themselves. Some victims tend to pick partners who abuse them the same way they had been during their childhood. A crippling fear that they have become a “bad seed” or that they are “evil” and are just like their abusive parent(s). All of these thoughts and feelings make the victim cautious of anyone giving them a compliment thinking that they are either using them or lying, the list goes on. Some of these victims have been to therapy in which the therapist would explain they were abused, the victims would a tendency to give excuses as to why they deserved what happened to them. Not treating child abuse can profoundly influence the victim’s physical and mental health. It affects their ability to control emotions, achievements in school, controlling emotions and impulses, and forming relationships from childhood to adults.

Some people that haven’t experienced abuse may think or say to these victims to simply take medication such as antidepressants or Xanax to help their anxiety. It’s not that simple to medicate these problems away, because yes, it may help a few individuals but for an unlucky few it could potentially make these things worse, or it may not work at all. There are a lot of options that can help your feelings of depression and/or anxiety. One is medication, yes, but that is only half of it. Medication alone won't fix everything. There is therapy for adults who are survivors of child abuse. Of course, antidepressant medication may help with feelings of depression and anxiety. However, medication alone can’t change learned patterns of behaving and thinking caused by abuse during childhood. To these ends there are two types of therapy that can be helpful: 1) Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytic Therapy, Psychoanalysis was established by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). According to Simplypsychology.com, Freud believed that things that happened have a great influence in our adulthood and also how our personality develops. Freud was convinced that people can be cured by making aware of their unconscious thoughts and motivations, gaining insight. The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e., make the unconscious conscious. Or 2) Cognitive-behavioral therapy. CBT is based on the idea that how we think (cognition), how we feel (emotion) and how we act (behavior) all interact together. Specifically, our thoughts determine our feelings and our behavior. Therefore, negative and unrealistic thoughts can cause us distress and result in problems. When a person suffers from psychological distress, the way in which they interpret situations becomes skewed, which in turn has a negative impact on the actions they take.

Not only is child abuse a serious problem, but it is also a costly expense. According to statistics, for one year neglect and abuse cost an estimated $124 billion. This includes lost productivity, hospitalization, child welfare, law enforcement. 1,740 cases were fatal, 579,000 were non-fatal. The cost for one victim that had experienced child abuse that has lived was $210,012. The cost of each death related to child abuse is more expensive than if the child had lived. Also according to CDC (center for disease control) an estimated cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment includes, $32,648 in childhood health care costs, $10,530 in adult medical costs, $144,360 in productivity losses, $7,728 in child welfare costs, $6,747 in criminal justice costs, $7,999 in special education costs. The estimated average lifetime cost per death includes $14,100 in medical costs, $1,258,800 in productivity losses.

In conclusion, child abuse affects many aspects of a person's life. The way they think, act, and how they build relationships. If abuse starts at a young age this could create substantial problems in their futures, making it even harder for these individuals to make friends when they are already going through a difficult transition at that point in their lives such as figuring out who they are as a person. Having good mental health is crucial to living in a stressful world like today. Good mental health such as self-confidence is nearly impossible to have when you suffer from depression and or PTSD due to what you experienced as a child. Not only does child abuse hurt these victims in how they build relationships and their self-image, but it is also a very expensive problem, costing the U.S. millions of dollars to fix a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place. Roughly 30% of children that were abused do the same to their own kids. Children exposed to domestic violence, child abuse, and other trauma will suffer more illnesses and injuries such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke and they are more at risk to develop mental illnesses throughout their lives and have a shorter life expectancy. If we educate young adults about the effects of childhood abuse then we can lower the percentage of child maltreatment in the U.S.