We can never forget our own history, because it defines us, there are lessons that it teaches us, lessons that we can’t simply forget or ignore, no matter how much we try to. The past plays a pivotal role in our lives, and if we’ve had a traumatic past, then it’s important to move forward by giving ourselves care, kindness, grace, and understanding. It’s important to untangle oneself from the problems of the past, and in today’s article, we will be looking at a memoir about childhood trauma that discusses the problems of the past in great detail, as well as looking at the impact of childhood insecurities, which develop into larger problems well into adulthood.
Childhood Trauma And The Problems That It Creates
The formative years of our lives define everything about us. They set our personalities, and we have the least amount of control over things during that period. For example, if one develops insecurities or fears during this age, they end up internalizing certain mindsets as they grow older and, as a result, feel unhappy with their lives and lash out at others in various ways. Many people suffer from undiagnosed mental illnesses and trauma, which can be difficult to treat.
Childhood trauma leads to children often becoming very avoidant, refusing to actively discuss their own problems with others, and just keeping them to which makes it difficult for them to express themselves. If a child, for example, feels that they are unattractive or look bad, then they might internalize a mindset that looks are the only thing that matter in life and therefore they would then never try to be nice to others, because if one thing is the only thing that matters, then why bother? So the mindset goes, and this mindset further prevents them from seeing the beauty in life.
What Causes Childhood Trauma
Inadequate parenting, neglect, and abuse lead to childhood trauma. For many children, they grow up in homes where their parents are either not there or not very helpful at all to them for the problems that they might have.
This leads to them feeling unhappy and discontented with everything in their lives, and this problem leads to them manifesting negative energy around them.
They might become more withdrawn and socially isolate themselves from others, and unfortunately, many people are quick to judge children like this rather than extend a hand and help them.
Since they always feel neglect, they continue to develop resentment, hatred, and rage. If these feelings are left unchecked for long enough, they grow into something vicious, preventing the person from ever attaining peace and happiness.
Unpacking The Overshare By Dawn Banksy
This memoir about childhood trauma is a serious look into what happens to a person when they’ve suffered from serious childhood neglect.
This book discusses Beth’s story. A girl who always felt unattractive compared to her sisters, and felt neglected by her parents, this lead to her developing a certain personality which caused her to alienate others, including the ones who loved her. Her negative self-perception heavily influenced her decision-making and made it difficult for her to love herself, as well as the ones who loved her, especially after she got married and had children. What she went through in the early period of her life, very severly impacted her relationship with her husband and her kids.
The suffering that she experienced spread to others, as well. Including her partner and children.
Beth recalls her life story at the start of the book as she is nearing her own death from cancer, she writes this book as a way to come to terms with the poor decisions that she made, and more than anything this book is an honestly look at the effects of childhood trauma, without sugar coating anything, she is more than honest about her own shortcomings and mistakes.
Memoirs About Childhood Trauma
Let’s take a look at some impactful memoirs about childhood trauma. Not only are these quite well written, but they will be helpful to many victims of childhood trauma as well.
A Stolen Life: A Memoir By Jaycee Lee Dugard
This book is about a young eleven year old girl who was kidnapped in the 90’s by a couple, while she was in captivity she was raped for years and impregnated twice, giving brith to two daughters. She was not found until 2009, eighteen years after her abduction.
Sickened By Julie Gregory
This memoir is quite dark; it tells the story of a young girl who would be forced to have constant medical checkups for illnesses that she did not have, all because our mother craved the attention of doctors and medical professionals. MBP, or Munchausen by proxy, is a condition that causes caretakers to induce or falsely create illnesses in their child and force them to go through medical procedures and checkups. Many children die, but the author survived and lived to tell the tale.
Not Without My Sister By Juliana Buhring
This is a book that tells the story of a group of sister who fight for their freedom and escape a religious cult called the Children of God, a harrowing and intense story about what happens to young children when their caretakes put them into a cult like environment, as the book shows all the absue that these children suffer as a result of being put into the cult, and eventually they make their way out of the cult.
Conclusion
Childhood trauma is a serious matter, and in many cases, it gets swept under the rug. Unfortunately, not many people are willing to talk about it, and as a result, many go about their lives suffering in silence. We hope that the memoirs about childhood trauma helped provide some perspective on the whole matter.