Teenager Trauma: Uncovering the Dark Side of Teenage Life

Introduction

The teenage years are the years filled with self-awareness, emotional outbursts, and a distorted sense of self. During this period teenagers tend to go through experiences which can be both good and bad, some having a lasting negative effect on the teenager. Trauma can be emotional, physical, or sexual in nature.

Teenager Trauma

Experience of trauma in the life of a teenager can warp their sense of self and their sense of security and can have a long-lasting effect on the individual. Trauma tends to work differently in individuals; some may want to talk about it but find it hard to explain how they feel or find it hard to bring up the experience in the eyes of the parents. At the same time, some individuals tend to work through it negatively by changing their demeanor and closing themselves from others. Teenage trauma can stem from various causes, including the loss of a loved one, aspects of bullying, ongoing abuse at home or school, and harassment of a sexual nature. All of this can have a prolonged effect on the individual’s mental well-being and may cause changes in the individual’s personality.

Most Common Causes of Trauma in Teenagers Today 

Traumatic stress can be in different forms, ranging from emotional, physical, and sexual in nature, which can lead to feelings of overwhelming helplessness. Following are some causes of such:

1. Harassment: Prolonged periods of exposure to harassment can lead to chronic trauma.
2. Bullying and physical or emotional at school: It can lead an individual to have a negative thought pattern and negative coping mechanism due to the trauma.
3. Loss of Loved ones: The traumatic loss of a loved one can cause trauma, which can affect the individual’s capabilities in a social setting and can cause issues in their daily life.
4. Assault or accidents: Assault or accidents can also have a prolonged effect on the mind of a teen. Having continuous thoughts about the situation and the feeling of helplessness can transform trauma into PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
5. Negligence: Neglect can cause feelings of abandonment to occur which can lead to a lasting impact on the well-being of the individual.

Symptoms of Trauma in Teenagers

Teenagers going through a trauma can show various symptoms, both psychological and physiological; some of them are:

1. Emotional Turmoil: Prolonged state of strong emotions of Anger, frustration, anxiety, sadness, or guilt.
2. Frequent flare-ups: Outbursts become common to the minor details of both natural anger and emotional outbursts.
3. Self-neglect: Disturbed eating and sleeping patterns with no care for self.
4. Despair deepens: As trauma becomes unbearable, the individual’s outlook toward everything becomes more and more pessimistic.
5. Emotional isolation: The inability to talk to others regarding their trauma can lead to withdrawal from family and friends.
6. Cognitive challenges: Difficulties regarding concentration, decision-making, and problem-solving affect their academic performance. 
7. Childish Attitude: Sometimes, individuals return to a state of child-like behavior and forgo their responsibilities.

How Does Untreated Trauma Affect a Teenager’s Mental Health? 

Trauma is well defined as an experience or event of distress that commonly impacts an individual’s ability to function and cope properly. 

1. Chronic Trauma: Especially during childhood trauma, which is commonly referred to as abuse, which can be physical, sexual, or emotional, while witnessing violence, neglect, or loss can lead to chronic trauma. 
2. Traumatic: Any experience that threatens a teenager’s sense of security and leaves them feeling helpless and isolated can be traumatic. 
3. Destructive coping mechanisms: An experience such as this can lead an individual to go through negative coping mechanisms such as substance abuse, keeping the company of dangerous individuals, or forsaking social components from their lives altogether.
4. Neuroplasticity: Early childhood experiences tend to play a larger role in an individual’s life in terms of how and in which environment their brain develops and learns to function.

How to Cope with Trauma Effective for Teenagers

1. Self-awareness: Understanding the trauma and the symptoms that you are showing can lead to insight into yourself.
2. Support network: It’s always beneficial to reach out to others for help when you are having a tough time dealing with trauma symptoms. Talking to family and friends can be a good start to alleviate yourself from those thoughts.
3. Counseling: Sometimes communication with others might not be the easiest thing to do for teenagers since during this time they find themselves in a place where no one can understand them, so reaching out to a professional who can connect with them better can be the key.
4. Mindfulness: Traumatic symptoms can cause a lot of psychological and emotional distress, which frequently affects day-to-day lifestyle; it can be helpful to learn or practice meditation and relaxation exercises to help in coping.
5. Engaging Diversion: Getting yourself into a new hobby or activity can help as a distraction and keep your mind occupied and learning something new things are always interesting, pick something challenging yet fun so that it doesn’t become too frustrating yet you pick up on new skills.
6. Prioritize self-care: Focus more on yourself by catering to your self-care more frequently, during times such as these we tend to focus on the negative aspect and not on our own wellbeing.

Conclusion

Teenager trauma is certainly something that we tend to see yet stays unseen by most of us. Prolonged exposure to trauma has long-term chronic effects; it’s important to notice it early and focus on the alleviation of self-destructive tendencies and negative coping mechanisms to work for a better tomorrow. 

References

Farhat Shireen, Himani Janapana ,  Sanila Rehmatullah ,  Hoor Temuri &  Fatima Azim. (2014) Trauma experience of youngsters and Teens: A key issue in suicidal behavior among victims of bullying?

 Bykova V.I., Tyutyukina A.I., Sidneva Y.G., Valiullina S.A (2021) A Psychological Portrait of a Teenager in the Posttraumatic Confusional State

Nur Aina Amirah Kamarazaman, Mohd Izwan Mahmud, Ku Suhaila Ku Johar (2023) An Exploration of Childhood Trauma and Psychological Well-Being of Teenagers