How does child neglect/abuse affect the physical health of victims?
Children who are being abused or were just abused tend to have headaches and stomach aches. Sadly, the overly traumatized youth, may have body dysregulation which is when the victim is sensitive and may be triggered by sounds, smells, tough or light, making them either over-response or under-response. They may also suffer from analgesia, making them not be able to feel pain and go through physical pain or problems without being able to tell or they might complain about pain in areas of their body where no cause can be found (1).
Adults with history of child abuse have been more likely to have chronic physical conditions and problems as they may take part in smoking, substance use, diets and habits that lead to obesity as a way to cope with the past trauma (1). Adult women victims tend to have back pains, severe headaches, chest pain, face pain, frequent tiredness, stomach pain, shortness of breath as signs that they have been through abuse. Child abuse may also lead to abnormalities in major physiological regulatory systems. For example, abnormalities hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and autonomic nervous system which have been found in adults who have been through abuse (2). The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis is the body’s main way of responding to stress which is made up of three organs that release hormones to raise cortisol levels in your body (3). The autonomic nervous system regulates and controls breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, and the movement of food through the intestines (4).
- https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects#:~:text=Adults%20with%20histories%20of%20trauma,habits%20that%20lead%20to%20obesity).
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1494926/
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-hpa-axis
- https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/healthy-living/Pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=sta123093&lang=en-ca
Thank you for reading!
