Childhood PTSD

anthony · #1 14-04-2006, 10:21 PM

I thought this article (posted below) was particularly interesting, outlining how those children of abuse, then turned into the abuser as an adult, abusing their partners and family physically and verbally. PTSD was struck into them at childhood, without them even knowing, to inflict upon the world in all the wrong ways as an adult. This type of traumatic life is nothing short of sickening in my opinion, and this article depicts methods in which people can make an active choice in breaking the abuse cycle, and not passing it to their children to become the same, or think what happened to them is ok to do themselves as an adult.
Break cycle of abuse, violence
Most domestic violence offenders suffered trauma as children
STEPHEN SNOW
Special to the Observer

Quote:

In the spirit of April, which is Child Abuse Awareness Month, I present:

â€¢ John. At age 10, he kept a baseball bat under his bed because he never knew when his father might come home drunk and beat his mother and him.

â€¢ Jack. At age 7, he hid fearfully in his room as his parents fought. At 14, he stopped feeling emotions. At 16, with friends helping, he beat his stepfather senseless.

â€¢ Peter. As a boy, he was beaten often. Some of the many strangers passing through his home "did things" to him.

These boys, men now, all are domestic violence offenders. John was a soldier in Bosnia. Today, he wakes up nights from terrorizing nightmares. He verbally abused his girlfriend and beat her. Jack beat his pregnant girlfriend and kicked her in the stomach. Peter and his wife had regular knock-down fights, which their children witnessed. (Names and details have been altered to protect their privacy.)

Streamlined approach

Each year on average, nearly 600 people, mostly men, are ordered by the courts to undergo treatment at New Options for Violent Actions (NOVA), a county-run program under the Women's Commission. About one-third to one-half show up. Of those, maybe a third complete the program, according to a recent assessment.The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners is now considering streamlining the approach to domestic violence, based on recommendations in a 101-page report, "Domestic Violence in Charlotte-Mecklenburg: An Overview and Assessment of Our Community Response."

Recommendations include better coordination and focus, streamlined service delivery, broader partnerships and earlier education/intervention.

Although I co-facilitate groups at NOVA, I'm writing here as a researcher and a therapist who works with abused and abusive men, women and children.

In 2005, as part of the requirement for my Ph.D. in counseling at UNC Charlotte, I studied men at NOVA, examining the relationship between their childhood experiences and a cluster of behaviors comprising Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD).

Trauma is an extremely difficult, tricky area. It also is a core challenge for many people who have trouble living effectively. Although much research supports this, little is used in treating problems such as domestic violence.

I looked at 11 measures of traumatic childhood experiences and related them to the six categories of C-PTSD, which have to do with the ability to manage the self, emotions and interactions with others; connecting with reality; experiencing body-based dissociation (called somatization) and disconnecting from meaning in life.

Not surprisingly, there were strong relationships between the men's early traumas and C-PTSD. However, the depth and breadth of their trauma was surprising.

It is hugely significant that most of the men (85 percent) felt their childhoods were unsafe. The significant abuse -- emotional, sexual, physical -- they experienced shattered their sense of safety.

Safety is life-essential. Feeling safe, we can trust, build healthy relationships and navigate difficulties. If we feel unsafe, our energy goes to make sure we are safe -- so we can survive. And, almost anything can be perceived as a threat to that survival.

The men also had high levels of current distress. The main difficulties -- managing emotions and perceptions (30 percent), dissociation (20 percent) and somatization (10 percent) -- were intense enough to be deemed mental problems, according to the American Psychiatric Association's guidelines.

The results vibrate with a linkage that is larger than the numbers themselves. They also suggest that NOVA, mainly structured for group-oriented education about offenders' negative behaviors, often must work with a population for which it was not designed.

The psychodynamics of traumatized people are extremely complex, can be very elusive and can appear paradoxical.

The treatment challenges are significant.

How will we treat offenders?

Domestic violence offenders are not just "bad people" who do bad things to others. Most were damaged children first and are damaged children still.

How we respond to them says a lot about our community's willingness to end child abuse and domestic violence.

To be effective, those responses must be multi-dimensional and multi-systemic. Three things are essential:

â€¢ Safety for victims.

â€¢ Accountability by offenders.

â€¢ Treatment that addresses the problem's complexity.

The recommendations to the county commissioners offer help for the first two areas. Although the need for deeper treatment is not addressed, the changes could create a climate where treatment could develop.

These changes are just first steps in a thousand-mile journey. But, without them, the journey can't happen.