The Connection between Childhood Experiences and Adult Depression

As professional psychologists, we come across people suffering from some form of depression and/or anxiety on a routine basis. Whether it’s about relationship issues or problems at the workplace – the underlying cause in most cases of adult depression are connected with some form of adversity the patient faced in their childhood.

When we talk to people involved in substance abuse, addicted to alcohol, or struggling with low self-esteem in adulthood, one thing is usually common – they’ve all been victims of painful events in past. These events become the root most of their problems stem from. There are usually two types of events that lead to adversity later in life:

• The absence of necessities
• The presence of hurt
• These events could include severe bullying, the absence of love and attention, alcoholic parents, sexual abuse, loss of a loved one, lack of appreciation, and more. Time and over, there have been various clinical studies conducted on this subject and the findings have been unanimous: traumatic or stressful events occurring in the early developmental phase of a child’s life can have a continuing impact on their brain. It is also known that depressed people with a history of childhood trauma tend to be more reckless and suicidal than people with depression without childhood traumas. Roughly around 20% women and 10% men in the United States recall being victims of physical or sexual abuse when they were young. However, these figures are conservative because sexual abuse is often not reported. These children, when they grow up into adults, report depression, somatic, substance abuse, and anxiety symptoms far greater than those without a history of abuse. These people are also more suicidal than their counterparts.Negative childhood experiences have an adverse effect on the developing mind of a child. These events scar them for life and the symptoms become clearly visible once the child grows up and develops a personality – that is, of course, tainted.At Silicon Valley Marriage Counseling, we explore and discuss the causes and symptoms of your anxiety and depression to understand your condition better. This helps us talk you through and overcome your suffering.