Children And Mental Health
It is common belief that we live in a world where there is little possibility of psychological and behavioral abnormalities among ourselves, hopefully in a perfectly normal state of affairs. Unfortunately however, research clearly indicates that our mental health is subject to many negative influences.
The impact of a negative environment is, unfortunately, very drastic. Many children show signs of psychological disorders due to stress factors in the immediate surroundings where they live. It is estimated that in the USA, 20% of all children live below the poverty line and are subject to severe physical abuse. In addition, the psychosocial factors of living in areas with poor housing expose them to violence that also impacts their minds. If this be the case in the United States, you can well imagine the condition of children in less fortunate countries with much less child protection programs.
Both the above stress-generating environments cause traumatic experiences in children that are likely to resurface later as psychological disorders in adulthood. These conditions, compared to more favorable ones in other neighborhoods, clearly point out the reason why some grow to be normal adults and some grow up with mental disorders.
It is very likely that children subjected to sexual abuse grow up with dissociation, such as multiple personality disorders. High incidences of victimization within families and friends further reinforce this malady. Repeated exposure to violence and dysfunctional surroundings too would lead to dissociative problems. The child’s defense mechanism to handle such violence, abuse or trauma leads to dissociative disorders as a method to cope with life. His inability to completely overcome such influences in his background however could result in psychological and emotional illness in adulthood.
Research has also shown that the sharp increase in the number of people being treated for psychological disorders during the 20th century and later compared to the earlier centuries is primarily due to problems in the home environment. Retardation, autism, depression and even psychomotor impairments very often have their roots in childhood neglect.
So much depends on a child-parent relationship and if this is one that is traumatic, it affects the chills in every way. It also makes him guilty, under-confident, stressful and full of negativity. The trauma of childhood is so powerful that it casts its long shadow over the rest of his life, affecting all his reactions to any situation. He could be exposed to a whole lot of economic hardship, violence outside the house, war, change, whatever and though they will have an effect on him, nothing will have long-reaching consequences like his home environment. A warm, healthy, loving atmosphere at home arms him for later life with all its stresses and problems.
