Emotional wounds that you got in childhood don’t just disappear with the passage of time. They have a way of coming back to haunt you, sometimes out of the blue. They can affect your self-esteem, your relationships, your career, and how you live your daily life. They can lead to bad habits, such as drug or alcohol abuse. You tell yourself it shouldn’t matter anymore, but that doesn’t help. Why is it so hard to get past a bad childhood?
Healing from childhood trauma
Childhood trauma isn’t something you just “get over.” Don’t feel bad if you are having a hard time getting past it – there are many reasons why it may still affect you, and they may all be intertwined. Here are just a few:
1. You only recently realized there was a problem. When you are a child you have no frame of reference other than your own. What happens in your family feels “normal” because you don’t know any other way to live. As you get older, you may be surprised to find that it wasn’t normal at all.
2. Other problems may cover up what is really going on. Because of bad things that happened in your childhood, you may develop a problem with alcohol or drugs to deal with them, although you don’t even realize that is what is happening. That’s why it is important to deal with the source of addiction.
3. You don’t want to deal with the past because it is too painful. This is easily understood, but to make progress with the pain of the past it must be confronted so it can be dealt with. Recognizing things that happened may hurt, but it is the first step toward feeling better about yourself and living the life you want.
There may be many reasons why what happened during your childhood is still having an effect on you, but the important thing is finding a healthy way to deal with it. The staff at Wasatch Crest Treatment in Heber, Utah, treats addiction by dealing with the sources of addiction. Call (800) 385-3507 for help today.
