Childhood Trauma Leaves Lasting Marks on the Brain

Comments

I don't understand
Jonathan Johnson

1/11/2013 2:28:19 PM

 Firstly I think child abuse is very wrong. However, I really don't see any point in addressing it. Ultimately we are suppose to all have the strength of will to not let it effect us and if we have, then we are blamed for our unfitness within the social model. Convert blindly or be excluded and blamed seem the message I hear. If we remove the idea that drugs help, as it seems placebo's sometimes have equal failure rates, then what is the adult victim to be considered medically, just lazy and stubborn or truely mentally ill. I think society would rather not acknowledge the posible truth in favour of this notion of freewill of all. In many ways the state has failed these children who are now adults. Any child that experiences significant abuse that causes a major life deviation from what is considered normal should be taken care of by the state in appropriate ways. Society should deal with the fallout from its "colateral damage" rather than just blaming the victims.

Childhood Trauma-- Adult Determination for Science & Solutions
Sumantran Ray

11/12/2011 4:20:02 PM

 1. It is an unfortunate truth that child abuse exists. More important question is what are we doing to join hands and fight against child abuse, and to help people who are suffering from its ill effects? 2. Let us join hands and unite to do all that we can to: -> build awareness about child abuse and mental health issues ; -> to support workers/ researchers in the areas of Mental Health , NeuroScience , Clinical Psychology etc. ; -> To oppose child abuse, and to support the sufferers/victims. 3. Modern PsychoTherapy techniques as -> Dialectical Behavior Therapy [with Buddhist Mindfulness techniques] , -> Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may be utilized for treatment

Damaging our Children
Barbara Lang

11/3/2011 2:29:13 AM

 Child abuse is the most hideous of all crimes and by far the most prolific. I have a beautiful friend who has brightened many lives with her infectious smile and caring heart. She has single handedly raised an autistic son, survived bulimia, a life threatening tubal pregnancy and most recently uncovered some horrific details about her childhood. She had been abandoned by her alcoholic mentally ill father and her biological mother when she was a baby. She was physically abused by her step mother, sexually abused by her step father and mental abuse was the family’s (4 other siblings) form of entertainment. But these are not the horrific details that she has recently uncovered! My dear friend has for many years kept these things under wraps, dealing with the underpinnings of this trauma with some therapy here and some therapy there. Maybe because she was just recently laid off from a well paying job of 30 years, maybe because menopause has taken over her mind, maybe because the isolation of a single parent shackled to a life of caring for her adult autistic child and I could go on and on, but one thing is for sure, a tsunami has overcome this kind and intelligent person bringing to the surface things that no person should ever have to recollect. She is remembering things like having her hands and feet tied together and put where the spare tire was supposed to be. She remembers being held down by her arms and legs in the same barn that she was forced to watch bulls being castrated and shocked. She believes at the age of 5 she was lobotomized. A certifiable nut case! That is what her family (if you can really call them a family) and her friends think. A lobotomy, give it a rest! Where’s the scar? Why are you only discovering it now at 55 years of age? After a bit of research it seems very plausible that my dear friend could very well have been a victim of an Ice Pick Lobotomy at the early age of 5. The pieces all come together: biological father died from shock treatment, step mother was a nurse, step father worked in the psych ward… I am looking for a data base of the Ice Pick Lobotomy patients from between the years 1960 and 1962 and specifically procedures that were done in Idaho. In closing, I was inspired from this article and I hope that many others read it and the word is spread, that there are disastrous repercussions that come from damaging our children.

Confirmation
Walter Zimmerman

10/26/2011 11:40:35 AM

 Thanks so much for this enlightening article. I suffered a particularly damaging upbringing, and your insights are quite helpful, as I continue to search for a remedy for stubborn depression and thoughts of suicide. While my actions are clearly my own responsibility, it is unexpectedly refreshing to learn that there may be physiological underpinnings to my difficulties - that my struggles aren't a character flaw. Thanks again.