Please make corrections to the paper according to the instructor’s feedback that is included in the files. Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Contribution to Psychiatric Disorders in Adulthood Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Contribution to Psychiatric Disorders in Adulthood Please add a literature review to the paper regarding the research proposal topic(Childhood traumatic experience and psych disorders) using scholarly sources.
Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Contribution to Psychiatric Disorders in Adulthood
Mental health illness is a disorder that affects an individual’s thought process, behavior, and mood. Mental illness is also referred to as mental health and psychiatric disorders. Mental health disorders are increasingly becoming a global health concern. It is estimated that 50% of the United States (US) population has received a mental health diagnosis during their lifetime (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021, as cited by Kuang and Wang, 2022). These disorders cause significant morbidity and mortality in many population groups. These illnesses form part of the ignored or poorly understood conditions due to lack of understanding, ignorance, and misinformation. The invisibility and differences in how communities perceive these illnesses have been blamed for this discourse.
As healthcare systems are tilting toward innovative ways to manage these illnesses, great consideration has been given to the pathogenic principles underlying these illnesses. Understanding the factors interplaying in their development and how they manifest allows the establishment of healthcare resources that are valuable in managing mental health illnesses. Salokangas et al. (2020) attest that people with mental health problems generally report having traumatic experiences. This paper examines the pathogenetic features preceding mental health illnesses, emphasizing the nexus between traumatic childhood experiences and psychiatric disorders.
Literature Review
Traumatic experiences in childhood encompass events that cause stress in a child’s life. These include sexual and physical assault, exposure to any form of violence, the sudden death of a loved one, and exposure to natural disasters such as earthquakes. Regardless of the form of a traumatic event, these experiences have profound effects on the emotional, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual health of an individual. McKay et al. (2021) note that childhood traumatic events impact a child’s psychosocial and mental health in their later lives. Children with such experiences tend to have difficulty managing, expressing, and identifying their emotions. Additionally, they tend to internalize or externalize their stress reactions and may thus experience anxiety, depression, and anger. These effects often interplay in their future illnesses and are often overlooked or unidentified during their management.
Several mental health illnesses have been associated with traumatic childhood events. Nelson et al. (2020) report that there is a strong nexus between childhood experiences and mental health illnesses. Psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, reactive attachment disorders, adjustment disorders, and others are correlated with traumatic childhood events such as emotional abuse, bullying, parental loss, and general maltreatment. The overarching principle behind the development of these disorders is the loss of trust, connection, and self-worth that proceeds from these events. Children exposed to such events often internalize the feeling that they are not lovable and have low self-worth. More often, they resort to maladaptive behaviors such as alcohol abuse and may develop depression, anxiety, and anger issues in their adolescence and adulthood. Findings have revealed that the incidence of mental health and other somatic illnesses such as sleep disturbance disorders, lower perception of self, and reduced emotional well-being are up to twice as high in individuals who were exposed to a form of a traumatic event in their childhood (Devi et al., 2019). This reveals the extent of involvement of these events in their suffering.
The ripple effects of early traumatic experiences have also been evident in somatic illnesses that ultimately affect individuals’ mental wellness. Tohi et al. (2022) report that children who experience trauma are at higher risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancers, and other chronic non-communicable diseases. While distinction exists between these illnesses and various mental health presentations, people living with these conditions are up to twice as likely to develop mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Comorbidities with depression and non-communicable diseases are a major contributing factor to increased hospitalizations and clinical visitations among adults. As such, this draws a nexus between childhood trauma and these presentations and reinforces the need to address childhood trauma as a modifiable risk factor for psychiatric manifestations in adulthood.
Emotional equanimity is an underlying factor in mental health wellness. The pursuit of mentally healthier communities often focuses on cultivating equanimity among individuals as a measure to enhance positive deci