Does childhood trauma cause personality disorders in adults?
For the general public, the term “childhood trauma” elicits images of extreme physical or emotional abuse. Children raised by emotionally abusive parents, raised in alcoholic households, or witness to frequent episodes of physical violence will most certainly develop coping mechanisms that often take the shape of personality disorders later in life. However, “childhood trauma” can take the form of much subtler behaviors experienced by the child.
The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire identifies 56 factors that contribute to an experience of childhood trauma, including those factors above. Some of the less obvious factors include frequent hurtful and insulting comments, feeling as though no one in the family takes a personal interest in your success, feeling distant and isolated from your family, being punished with a belt, a board, a cord or other hard object, and frequently feeling anxious and unsafe around the adults or older siblings in your family.
The current literature says that individuals who experience these types of repeated, early life traumas will often develop personality disorders. These traumatic experiences generate intense feelings of isolation and rejection, and appear to contribute to significant changes in brain functioning.
Characteristics of Personality Disorders
If you’re not familiar with it, personality disorder is a somewhat controversial diagnosis which essentially classifies people who we might otherwise called “extremely difficult” but to the point where they cause themselves significant life problems.
Attention-Seeking or Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness of dysregulation, dyscontrol and impulsivity. People with BPD are highly emotionally sensitive. People with BPD react strongly to negative emotional cues. The acting out behavior can range from making a scene in a restaurant, to generating conflict in relationships, or intentionally hurting themselves by cutting or burning, or other forms of self mutilation. These types of behaviors represent desperate efforts in obtaining relief from very intense feelings.
If You Know Extremely Difficult People, You Might Be One of Them
Personality disorders are pervasive chronic psychological disorders, which can greatly affect a person's life. Having a personality disorder can affect one's work, one's family, and one's social life. You may have experienced a personality disordered work colleague or family member not only as “extremely difficult”, but difficult, to the point where they cause themselves significant life problems.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.