Now we face the real trauma of school shootings and children doing drills to prepare for a shooting or worse. The contagion effect of hearing about shootings in school can be as traumatizing as if the child experienced it themselves. For this reason, vigilance regarding the potential need for therapy is necessary. There is also research connecting early childhood trauma with Parkinson’s Disease.

A recent article provides some sense of what a drill is like for a teacher:

“I was working in my preschool health office when the loudspeaker came on, but this time, it was not the voice of the school principal, it was the sound of gunshots. I had no students in my office, so I locked the door, covered the glass, closed the blinds, and hid in the corner. I had no idea if this was an unannounced lockdown drill or an active shooter in our building. In the end, it was a drill, an unannounced one. The person running the drill used an app on her phone that sounded like gunshots, which she played over the loudspeaker.”

Imagine how the children would have felt if they had seen their teacher “hid in the corner.” But her classroom was empty. Did she suffer any trauma? I would suspect that it was a more-than-upsetting experience and that even if it has become commonplace, the fear is created and it takes its toll.

Are these drills effective in any way? There is no federal standard for how to run these drills, nor is there any evidence that they are effective when an attack does result. This is pretty concerning.

Another article noted survey data where “Results show that experiencing an active shooter drill in high school was associated with significant increases in student fear, inflated perceptions of risk, and a decrease in perceptions of school safety.”

The Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma

Adverse events that can be included in childhood trauma include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, problems in the home, and witnessing violence. These events can have a lasting effect on a child’s emotional, cognitive, and social development by molding their developing brain. Trauma alters the normal progression of healthy development and can cause a variety of mental health issues as an adult.

People who have gone through childhood trauma are frequently at an increased risk of developing mental health conditions like despair, anxiety, PTSD, substance misuse, and even personality disorders. Individuals may display symptoms of hyperarousal, emotional dysregulation, detachment, and trouble establishing and maintaining relationships because of trauma.

Using a trauma-informed strategy is crucial for meeting the mental health needs of traumatized people. Providing safe and supportive environments, comprehending the effects of trauma on individuals, and empowering them in their recovery are all key components of trauma-informed care. Professionals can offer holistic care that promotes healing and resilience by understanding the connections between trauma, mental health, and general well-being.

Although the effects of childhood trauma can be severe, it’s vital to keep in mind that resilience and rehabilitation are possible. Individuals can set out on a road of healing and reclaiming their lives through a combination of evidence-based therapies, support networks, and self-care techniques. Those who struggle with trauma-related issues may benefit from therapeutic approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and mindfulness practices.

The Function of Social Support

The strength of their support network significantly influences an individual’s ability to recover from trauma. Social support, whether it comes from family, friends, or professional networks, is crucial for assisting people in navigating the difficult emotions and difficulties brought on by trauma. The support network transforms into an important tool for people on their way to healing by encouraging a sense of belonging, empathy, and understanding.

A joint effort is needed to remove the stigma and hurdles associated with mental health in order to address the needs of traumatized people in terms of their mental health. We can build a society that emphasizes the welfare of all of its members by encouraging open discussions, increasing understanding, and fighting for readily available, high-quality mental health care. Everyone should have the chance to get better, develop, and prosper.

In a truly people-sensitive society, there should be the opportunity for citizens to work toward improving themselves, growing in a positive direction, and flourishing as a result.

If we are to effectively meet the mental health needs of traumatized individuals, we must engage in comprehensive and integrated trauma-informed treatment practices. This includes, among other things, expanding access to mental health services, educating professionals on trauma-specific interventions, and promoting research and development in the field. By amplifying the voices of survivors, challenging cultural norms, and fostering an atmosphere of understanding and compassion, we can foster the circumstances for a better future.

Mental health is significantly and widely impacted by childhood trauma. The staggering number of shootings that have taken place in recent years is planting the seeds of future mental health issues. It is critical to comprehend a traumatized person’s needs and provide them with the support and resources they require if they are to recover and maintain good health.

By adopting a trauma-informed strategy, encouraging resilience, and eradicating the stigma associated with mental health, we can create a society that nurtures and uplifts those who have experienced trauma. Let’s work together to create a world where mental health care is available, kind, and empowering.

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The question carries a cluster of other queries and calls into dispute the entire premise of the validity of children’s memories. The lack of real memories is viewed in several distinct ways; lack of language and a type of amnesia.

“Prior to age 8 years… most adults suffer from an amnesic syndrome that has two phases. From the first phase — prior to age 3–4 years — adults have few if any personal or autobiographical memories. From the second phase — between the ages of 4–8 years — adults have a smaller number of autobiographical memories than would be expected based on forgetting alone. In the literature, this two-part phenomenon is known as infantile amnesia or childhood amnesia.”

Suppose an infant’s brain is prone to quickly forgetting and has limited or no ability to formulate long-term memories. Doesn’t this call into contention the validity of childhood memories in adult life? As stated in the literature, “It remains unclear how a brain that rapidly forgets, or is not yet able to form long-term memories, can exert such a long-lasting and important influence.”

How can an imaginary “memory” help evaluate someone’s life and mental situation as an adult, and why would therapists be so willing to accept these memories? Additionally, how would anyone know if these were fanciful memories?

The findings so far indicate that “before 3 years of age that children can mobilize their developing — and still fragile — episodic memory.”

Consider fascinating work on children’s memory and a horrific kidnapping incident in California. The 1976 Chowchilla kidnappers hijacked a school bus with 26 children, ages 5–14, and buried it in a quarry, requesting a ransom to release the bus or reveal its hiding place.

The experience was incredibly horrific, but some memories of the event may have been distorted by time, and it is the area of recovered memories to which Dr. Elizabeth Loftus devoted her research.

The children on the bus suffered persistent trauma even four years later and feared being kidnapped, had nightmares, and a fear of death. “A 4-year follow-up study of 25 school-bus kidnapping victims and one child who narrowly missed the experience revealed that every child exhibited posttraumatic effects. Symptom severity was related to the child’s prior vulnerabilities, family pathology, and community bonding. Important new findings included pessimism about the future…”

Can we always relate events truthfully retrieved from memory? Seemingly, we may not know for a variety of reasons. Loftus says the causes may include “some errors can make you feel better about yourself. These are called prestige-enhancing memory distortions.” Others are of the stolen valor cases where someone presents themself as having been involved in brave feats. Prominent politicians have used this method of career enhancement.

The work that Loftus maintains is in repressed memories and primarily sexual abuse. Since we know that pre-verbal children may not have the ability to form valid, long-term memories, her expertise would not be helpful here. But she has been called as an expert witness in famous sex-abuse cases. An interesting video on childhood memory makes several important points.

Caution here. Freud, a neurologist, failed to account for the young brain’s inability to formulate strong, episodic memories in infancy and childhood and erroneously indicated these memories were repressed. How can an infant repress something that could not be encoded in the first place? Yes, we have sense memory, but can we verbalize them and how would that benefit or harm us?

But we also know that we never totally forget anything as shown by research in re-learning. The problem is that this work is based on studies with older children or adults who have gone to school, not infants, toddlers, or younger children. An interesting research area. Anyone interested in a case of an inability to forget is referred to Luria’s book, “The Mind of a Mnemonist…”

Of course, Freud also refuted the idea that female children were being sexually assaulted by their fathers and other men and postulated that women had penis envy. He also diagnosed Little Hans, who had been terrified by a dray horse accident in a park, as suffering from castration anxiety. Unethically, he had the boy’s father initiate psychoanalytic treatment with him with the supervision by Freud.

Freud contended Hans suffered from unconscious conflict and that the horse was an object representing his father. Today, we might call it PTSD. Can you say inadequate history-taking ability?

Memories, real or constructed for a catalog of purposes can lead to serious anxiety, especially if they are reinforced by someone who attempts therapeutic help without adequate information. A degree of forgetting, according to some theorists, is similar to a computer hard drive defragging itself and making room for more memories. It is healthy, not pathological.

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“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt

Fear is one of our most resistant emotions, and it refuses to be erased quickly, despite Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice. She faced fears which would have traumatized any child, e.g., shipwreck, father’s attempted suicide, and loss of parents to diphtheria.

In addition to her losses, Eleanor was shy due to her mother constantly referring to her as an ugly child she called “Granny.” Unfortunately, her mother was one of the desirable beauties of her age.

Eleanor did manage to conquer her fears, but childhood fears, especially of medical and dental settings, stay with us for too long — into our adult lives. These fears pose threats to our health in their potency to inhibit actions that would save us from illness. How do we tackle this thorny emotion? First, a bit of history on my personal experiences with medical misdiagnosis and fear.

A Child’s Trauma

When I was a young child, a trip to the hospital emergency room felt like I was being led to a torture chamber, which it invariably proved to be. The smell of antiseptic filled the air in the gloom of the old city hospital.

I would be deposited with my mother on a long wooden bench in a hallway waiting to be called in. It always seemed that we were the only ones waiting there. The waiting was as though the torturers were preparing their tools to provide the ultimate in my painful experience.

One experience stands out among all the others. I had a toothache and, since we could not go to a dentist because we had no money, the dental clinic was a trip I was soon to make.

Today, it would be right out of Dustin Hoffman’s “Marathon Man” or “A Clockwork Orange,” maybe even “The Boys From Brazil.” Would the dentist have uttered Robert Duvall’s famous line from “Apocalypse Now” (with a slight change), “I love the smell of antiseptic in the morning.”

After a long wait in the hallway, I was called in, alone, seated in a large chair and surrounded by three nurses and a dentist. The torture was about to begin.

I received a minuscule shot of Novocain, and the dentist proceeded with enthusiasm and a pair of pliers to pull at my tooth. The anesthetic hadn’t yet taken effect, but they weren’t going to wait. As I pleaded, they refused to believe me that it was painful.

Three nurses grabbed me and held me down as the dentist pulled at my tooth until it plopped out. The fear I felt was extraordinary, and they acted as though I were being an unruly child, not one in pain and frightened out of my wits.

The Second Fearful Experience

My next childhood experience in a charity hospital emergency room, as a six-year-old child, was also traumatic and almost catastrophic. I had a leg injury, which was misdiagnosed and, as a result, I was later rushed into surgery.

The surgeon told my parents that they didn’t know if they’d be able to save my leg. They’d waited too long to come in; they hadn’t. The intern they saw earlier in the day sent us home after their first visit to the ER.

As I was wheeled up to surgery, my parents were accused of child abuse by an over-enthusiastic social worker who refused to believe the intern misdiagnosed the injury. I, even as a young child, heard the comments and yelled to support my parents.

I recall blurting out that they did not injure me and that they followed the doctor’s instructions. I have no idea if they believed me or thought I was being a loyal child. We know that abused children generally protect abusers.

I almost lost my leg at the hip because of that misdiagnosis, and my parents were nearly arrested for child abuse. It was all the result of inadequate medical training.

Of course, the fact that we were poor added to the problem. How many poor kids have gone through the same experience and will experience this type of treatment in the future? The thought is more than distressing.

It took a long time, but, as an adult, I overcame my fear and managed to go to the dentist as I would go to any other appointment. I never expected pain, nor did I ever experience it because all the dentists I saw waited for the anesthetic to work.

Stress and Fear Resistance to Extinction

Stress has a critical role in the development and expression of many psychiatric disorders, and is a defining feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stress also limits the efficacy of behavioral therapies aimed at limiting pathological fear, such as exposure therapy.

Early childhood stress, therefore, plays a central role in the development of stress-related disorders such as dental phobias. But is it solely learning to be fearful in a specific environment, or is there a biological involvement?

Dr. David Barlow theorized three specific types of anxiety-related behavioral outcomes:
1. generalized biological vulnerability, mainly of genetic origin
2. generalized psychological vulnerability, resulting in particular from early life experiences
3. a specific psychological vulnerability focused on particular events or circumstances

Therefore, early childhood experiences, together with a genetic component, are actively responsible for phobic anxiety. While they may be confined to specific places or events, Barlow never delved into the question of biological brain area and structural changes that would embed fear-related memories. The physiological changes in the brain seemed unreasonable. But research provided new clues to early fear imprinting.

The biology of fear and anxiety has now been explored and it has been found that specific areas of the brain are where fear resides.

Vulnerability to psychopathology appears to be a consequence of predisposing factors (or traits), which result from numerous gene-environment interactions during development (particularly during the perinatal period) and experience (life events), (and) the biology of fear and anxiety (is a) systemic brain-behavior relationships, neuronal circuitry, … functional neuroanatomy and cellular/molecular (neurotransmitters, hormones, and other biochemical factors…

Multiple brain structures involved in fear work in an interplay of swift reactions meant to preserve and protect life, usually from saber-tooth tigers, but today real or imagined threats.

The fear response starts in a region of the brain called the amygdala. This almond-shaped set of nuclei in the temporal lobe of the brain is dedicated to detecting the emotional salience of the stimuli — how much something stands out to us.

From the amygdala and other brain structures, e.g., the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, the cascade of hormones and neurotransmitters begin to wash the brain in a reaction to danger.

Fear is being laid down in the brain, which will incorporate it into its memory banks in the hippocampus. But the memory of fear is not restricted to the brain alone. All the five senses of sight, olfaction, audition, touch, and taste record their memory in a somewhat dissimilar fashion and save it for later use.

Every physical reaction to fear is mustered during this time as blood pressure rises, the heart beats in an ever-increasing cadence, sweat is produced, and even the intestinal tract works overtime.

Despite all this disturbing activity, abused children, who fear their abusers, protect them. Why? Imaging of these children’s brains shows abnormal portions of their brains, which is believed to be related to the abuse.

The brain, in fact, in fearful children shows areas that are smaller. Fear has hampered and impeded development which then manifests in unexpected, protective behavior of the children toward their abusers.

So, early fearful experiences are not solely learned; they are laid down in neurology in the person in fear. Can this be changed later in life?

Research on brain development and early fear would require something equivalent to the 40-year-study of Donald Super and his colleagues related to school children and career choices. It would be nearly impossible today because of the needed funding and maintaining a dedicated and willing database of participants.

But we march on with various forms of therapy in the belief that we will be able to conquer fear and we do. Does the brain recognize these new and acceptable experiences and respond physically to them? Maybe someday we’ll know the answer to that question.

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